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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday December 14, 2013
OPPOSITION STRIKES AGAIN - denies public the right to be heard in Parliament
THE Political Opposition again showed their disregard for the public’s voice, denying sections of the public their right to petition, and to be heard in the National Assembly. The Opposition, on Thursday night, voted against a petition presented by Government Member of Parliament (MP) Odinga Lumumba on behalf of the Constituent Members and stakeholders of cricket, which requested that the National Assembly expedite the passage of the Guyana Cricket Administration Bill 2012-Bill No 31 of 2012. The petitioners, who numbered more than 30, said they were convinced that expediting the bill was the only solution to resolve the cricket crisis, and to preclude the possibility of cricket being used as a conduit for laundering money. However, before the motion was even presented, A Partnership for National Unity, MP, Carl Greenidge standing on a Point of Order, objected to it being allowed in the National Assembly, as the wording was offensive to Standing Order 15-4A. The Speaker of the House Raphael Trotman said he too was concerned with some of the wording, but pointed out that it is the duty of the Clerk of the National Assembly to veto a motion’s appropriate-
ness before it is presented to the House, and conceded that the Clerk in allowing the motion must have deemed the motion appropriate. Government’s Chief Whip Gail Teixeira, who also rose, noted that it was the Clerk’s role to determine whether motions can be allowed in the National Assembly. She pointed out that several other petitions had come before to the National Assembly with ‘loaded’ language, and were allowed to be read and carried. Teixeira, said she feared that the National Assembly was going down a road whereby only petitions that both sides read and deem as having appropriate language will be heard, which she pointed out would diminish the right of the people to come to the House with their concerns. She warned too that defeating the bill will be saying to people of Guyana, to ignore the Parliament as it does not want to hear you. In the end, the motion was read, and following dissention, it was put to the vote with 32 for and 32 against and was therefore not carried. This was the second time that the Opposition has stifled the voice of the stakeholders in the National Assembly.
Claims that protesters were paid are similar to ‘drowning cats clutching at straws’ - according to former NTC Chair Yvonne Pearson
By Vanessa Narine FORMER Chair of the National Toshaos Council (NTC), Ms Yvonne Pearson, has vehemently criticised claims that youths from the Youth Entrepreneurship and Apprentice Project (YEAP) who were involved in Thursday’s protest outside Public Buildings had been promised payment by the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs.
“The best way I can describe this is to say it is drowning cats clutching at straws,” she said. Involved in organising the protest action, Pearson told the Guyana Chronicle that the claims made by Lorraine Martin as reported by the Stabroek News are a complete fabrication. She said: “The claims are completely false.” The former NTC Chair added that the demonstration
of Amerindian youths seen on Thursday outside Public Buildings was the first of its kind, and is an action that seems to have
“shocked” many persons. Pearson said: “The claim is a blatant fabrication (that is) meant to discredit a genuine protest action by young Guyanese. (It is) a fabrication that did our young people a disservice. “These were young people who understood the issue at
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Parliament on Tuesday to cut $300M in supplementary funding earmarked for delivery of projects and programmes in Amerindian communities. Pearson has bemoaned using the funding of projects and programmes in Amerindian communities as a tool to score political points, when the needs of the people are clear. Members of the National Assembly voted in consideration of Ramjattan’s motion, and it was not carried in the Committee of Supply. The former NTC Chair expressed her satisfaction with the way MPs voted. “Anyone looking at the issue and understanding the circumstances of Amerindian
people in the hinterland would realise how much difference the funding would make,” she said. Minister of Amerindian Affairs, Ms Pauline Sukhai, told the House that the $500M supplementary funding comes on the heels of the just concluded National Toshaos Council meetings, which sought to provide a forum for Amerindian village leaders to plan developmental projects for their respective communities. The funding covers transportation costs for school children using both the roadways and waterways, and costs to develop roads and access paths to promote trade and agriculture, among other priority areas.
Local Gov’t Ministry initiates Christmas clean-up in City
Yvonne Pearson
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hand and the consequences it would have on development in their communities. They have a democratic right to protest, and that is what they did.” According to her, Members of Parliament need to “understand” the reality of the circumstances with which persons in hinterland villages are faced. Leader of the Alliance For Change (AFC), Khemraj Ramjattan, filed a motion with
A motion presented by Government MP Manzoor Nadir on behalf by the Private Sector Commission at the November 8, sitting of the National Assembly, was also denied. The motion which urged the members of the National Assembly, to pass the Anti-Money laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (Amendment) Bill as a matter of national and economic priority was voted down on the grounds that it was full of inaccuracies, prejudicial in favour of the Government, malicious and vexatious. Meanwhile, a former Director of the West Indies Cricket Board has expressed disappointment over the shooting down by the Joint opposition of a petition seeking to expedite the passage of the Guyana Cricket Administration Bill. Mr Claude Raphael who was also a former Chairman of the Guyana Cricket Board Selection panel was one of several signatories of the petition to Parliament urging the expediting of the passage of the Bill in the interest of local cricket. In an invited comment about the rejection yesterday, Mr Raphael stated that the intention had merely been to get Parliament to speed up its work on the Guyana Cricket Administration Bill in the interest of local cricket. “The stakeholders who signed the Petition are very disappointed over its rejection. He added that the Petitioners will continue to struggle for what he described as the restoration of order and legality within the sport in Guyana.
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THE Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development has collaborated with the Ministry of Public Works, the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) and other community stakeholders to commence an intensive Christmas cleanup around the capital city, Georgetown. According to Municipal Services Officer at the Local Government Ministry, Fabion Jerrick, this campaign will be
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held over a 10- day period, which commenced on December 11, 2013 with mobilisation and sensitisation activities. He noted that the Local Government Ministry is tasked with administering the project, while the Public Works Ministry, with assistance from the City Hall, will be executing the bulk of the work. The Local Government ministry will be responsible for cleaning of the following areas:
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Kitty/Campbellville, Cummings Lodge/Liliendaal, AgricolaMeadow Bank, River View - Laing Avenue - inclusive of Alexander Village, Sideline Dam, La Penitence and Lodge - Meadow Brook. Jerrick also pointed out that the campaign will be tackling clogged internal drains, illegal dumping and slashing of over grown vegetation. Arrangements will be put in place for the disposal of waste collected. All wards within Georgetown will benefit from this campaign, but emphasis will be placed on the La Penitence market, which is considered a major eye-sore after market day on Sundays, hence a lot of extra attention will be given to it. There have also been numerous complaints from residents of Albouystown/East La Penitence area about the reckless disposal of waste by market vendors in that area.
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