Missed Anti-Money Laundering deadline… Opposition responsible for whatever consequences Guyanese may encounter

Mar 05, 2014 News

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 – PPP
The People’s Progressive Party (PPP), through its Junior Minister of Finance Juan Edghill, has laid responsibility for whatever consequences Guyanese may encounter by not meeting the CFATF (Caribbean Financial Action Task Force)’s latest deadline on February 28, squarely at the feet of the political Opposition.
Guyana was blacklisted last year by CFATF for not putting its (CFATF’s) recommended legislation in place to fight money laundering and to counter the financing of terrorism.
As such Guyana was given a new deadline, February 28, to pass the necessary Anti Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AMLCFT) legislation and report back to CFATF.
However that deadline too was missed because the Parliamentary Select Committee established to iron out the concerns and amendments of the parties involved (Alliance for Change [AFC], A Partnership for National Unity [APNU] and Peoples Progressive Party /Civic [PPP/C]) was not able to incorporate the amendments made by APNU and supported by AFC in time for the deadline.
Edghill, during PPP’s press conference held recently at Freedom House articulated that the position taken by the opposition has “willfully and maliciously placed all in harm’s way” including their own supporters. He related that “over the many months, the main Opposition APNU, failed to make known, its objections regarding the Bill and made a last-minute submission. This was clearly a deliberate attempt to not only delay debates to facilitate the passage of the Bill, but to bring to bear unwarranted suffering to the hard-working people of this country.”
According to Edghill, governments around the world are being sanctioned because they are not willing and they did not put in place mechanisms to ensure that their country is compliant.
“In Guyana we have a government that wants to put in place that kind of architecture, we have been working everyday to put in place that mechanism, but we have an opposition that is blocking it. and those reports and that information from getting back to the relevant persons as it relates to this matter.”
Edghill stressed that the AFC signaled its willingness to support the passage of the Bill based on the government establishing the Public Procurement Commission (PPC). He said that despite the AFC’s demand, it was clear that they had no contention with the actual Bill but wanted what they insisted on as a prerequisite for support.
According to Edghill “it is therefore extremely mindboggling that the AFC, which vehemently professes to be responsible and independent of the PNC, has reneged on the resolution reached regarding the PPC and has now adapted the position taken by APNU.”
Edghill said that AFC’s actions are “treacherous” and is evidence that the AFC and APNU are “in cahoots with each other” even though the AFC has indicated to the contrary.
The Junior Finance Minister said that the AMLCFT Bill in its current form is compliant with a position which was articulated by the official from CFATF Roger Hernandez, in a press conference. According to Edghill, Hernandez “was clear when he noted that amendments proposed by APNU should make the current Bill non-compliant and would therefore place the country at risk. This is clearly a vindication of what the government continues to articulate. Given this, the question becomes obvious, why would the AFC suddenly adopt APNU’s position and thereby collaborate to place the country and its people in jeopardy?”
Edghill stressed that both APNU and the AFC have “deliberately” not taken into consideration the harsh consequences the non-passage of this Bill would bring to bear on the “people of this nation. “The effects of the non-passage of this Bill are not confined to only members of the PPP, and the action of the Opposition is further indicative of their wanton disregard for the welfare of our people.”
He related that the government has taken a reasonable position on the matter but the opposition’s “intransigence” has led to Guyana missing the February 28 deadline. He said that the combined opposition continues to “foster a political agenda which is counterproductive to the development of Guyana.”
Speaking on the way forward, Edghill said that there is a sitting of the Special Select Committee today, and the members of that committee will continue to work and engage even though the deadline was missed, “to see if we can continue to persuade our colleagues in that Select Committee to get a compliant Bill to CFATF,”
Meanwhile APNU Executive Member Joseph Harmon in a press conference held yesterday said that the position taken by Edghill is one that has been “consistently wrong”. He said that the recommendations that have been made by APNU are now being dealt with by the Chief Parliamentary Counsel in the Select Committee whom Harmon opined is inexplicably “dragging his feet” with respect to getting back APNU’s amendments to the Committee.

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