WHY WORRY?

Oct 24, 2013 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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Why is the government rushing the opposition parties over Anti-Money Laundering and the Countering of Terrorism Bill? What is the rush about?
By now the government ought to know that the opposition operates on two speeds: slow and dead stop.
Some of the members in the opposition also have a problem keeping awake during meetings. They need their siestas and therefore there is only so much which can be done in any one day. Why the rush?
The government needs to also appreciate that the draft Bill in its entirety needs to be studied by the opposition and this will take some time because there are not many persons within the opposition camp who have the expertise in the areas of anti- money laundering and the countering of terrorism.
In fact if you would have listened to some of the criticisms made by the opposition about the proposed SWAT team that is being put in place you would believe that the opposition is not aware of the changing nature of terrorist activities around the world and about the need for governments to develop capabilities to deal with these anti-state and anti- personnel attacks which can range from mass bombings to school shootings.
The opposition has its own modus operandi. It has to study the proposed legislation. The matter then has to be laid before its Shadow Cabinet—Yes! The opposition does have its own shadow Cabinet.
Arising out of the discussions of the opposition Cabinet, it may be necessary for the matter to be put to special committee to study the ramifications. Then a decision has to be taken on these ramifications before the position of the opposition’s position can be crystallized and then taken before the special committee of parliament that is trying to reach an agreement on the proposed legislation.
When the matter gets to that level, there has to be further pulling, tugging and sand dancing before any agreement is reached. This, too, requires time, a liberty that the government does not have since the country is under threat of sanctions.
In order to reach agreement quickly so as to avoid sanctions from the international community, the government has been appealing to the opposition to put the interests of the country above partisan considerations.
The government is also wasting its time here too. The government is assuming too much. It is assuming that the opposition understands what that means. When has the opposition ever responded to such an appeal? Has the government forgotten what this country went through at the hands of the opposition from 1997 onwards? How many times were the actions of the opposition guided by national considerations?
While the government is awaiting the opposition to reach agreement, segments of the country are getting nervous. The insurance companies are fearful that they may be unable to place reinsurance in other countries and thus unable to spread their risk. But why worry?
There was a time in this country when foreign exchange shortages were so acute that instead of companies being able to reinsure their risks, they were ordered by the government to remit monies that they would have held overseas. They had none to reinsure and thus were forced to take action to spread their risks more widely amongst their local counterparts.
The commercial banks too are worried that the sanctions could affect banking transactions. One bank, in fact, has indicated that a major bank in the United States is not doing business any longer with Guyana.
But why worry?
There was a time in this country when Guyana was deemed uncreditworthy and when doing business with foreign banks was very difficult because of the foreign exchange constraints.
Yet Guyanese businesses and individuals found ingenious ways to source foreign exchange to conduct their business. Things were tough but the people were tougher.
The money transfer companies are getting nervy because they are uncertain as to whether they will be able to continue business should Guyana be subject to sanctions. This will mean grave hardships for tens of thousands of Guyanese, especially those who depend on remittances from relatives overseas to take care of their day-to-day expenses.
Some persons also need to be able to receive monies from overseas in cases of emergencies. But why worry?
We have had rough times in this country that no other country in the Caribbean, barring Haiti, has ever had. And it brought out the best in our people who learnt to share the little they had. Guyanese survived these difficult times.
Guyana has to meet its international obligations because the reputation of the country is also at stake. No one likes to do business with a country that does not honour its obligations. Guyanese were once looked down upon in the Caribbean after Burnham bankrupted the Caribbean Multilateral Clearing Facility.
One can therefore understand why, therefore, there will not be much sympathy with Guyana should the country fail to meet its international community. Once bitten twice shy and the Caribbean Community has been bitten many times by Guyana.
This is why it is important that Guyana not backtrack from its international commitments. You cannot play politics with such commitments regardless of which government made those commitments.
As such, the passage of legislation that is necessary for Guyana to meet its international obligations cannot be tied to domestic political deals. No country can allow such a situation where its international obligations are held hostage to domestic political deals.
Once a situation arises where opposition parties begin to use Guyana’s international obligations to extract domestic concessions from the government, then there is uncertainty as to the country honouring its external obligations.
External agencies, banks, organizations, institutions and governments then become circumspect about doing business with Guyana and this ultimately results in a loss of confidence by the entire international community.
But why worry? We have been that route before and we made it through those difficult days.  Guyanese are strong and tough people. They will survive regardless of what the international community does. Of that you can be sure!

 

 

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