Protest ensues outside Parliament as citizens mount pressure on Opposition to pass AML/CFT Bill

By Kurt Campbell

[www.inewsguyana.com] – Scores of citizens from across Guyana have gathered mere feet away from the Parliament Building as they mount pressure on the Combined Parliamentary Opposition to pass the Anti – Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Amendment Bill as Parliamentarians get ready to commence a sitting where the passage of the Bill is likely to be made the subject.

Those gathered have expressed gross disappointment and frustration with what they say is slothfulness on the Opposition’s part in passing the amendments.

“They are causing strain on the ordinary man, they claim to be representing the people but they are misrepresenting the people… they are hindering progress” one protestor told iNews on Monday, February 10.

Meanwhile, another protestor who opted to speak to the media said “Guyana is going forward and we need continuous development.”

The Parliamentary Select Committee considering amendments to Bill met at noon today, Monday February, 10 in a bid to complete the report of the Committee so that it can be presented to the Full House at a sitting set for 14:00hrs.

iNews was informed that there were some interesting developments during that meeting. However, Committee members are very tight lipped on the fate of the Bill.

The likelihood of the Bill being passed remains unknown at this point especially since there were three major proposed amendments to the Principal Act at the weekend by the Opposition members in the Committee to which Government has objected.

Meanwhile, the Alliance for Change (AFC) in a press release while reiterating its support to the Bill maintained that its support is hinged to the setting up of the constitutionally mandated Public Procurement Commission.

“The AFC maintains that passage of the AML CFT Bill on Monday without the establishment of the Public Procurement Commission is a half-baked attempt to stem the flow of illicit gains” a statement noted.

The Government is pushing for the completion of the amendments for a possible mid-February review by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) after its latest ranking of countries in terms of its level of delinquency for implementing measuring to fight money laundering and the financing of terrorism by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has ranked Guyana as the highest.