[www.inewsguyana.com] – Guyana’s Tourism Sector is already being affected by the country’s non – passage of the Anti – Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Amendment Bill.
This is according to Tourism Minister (ag), Iraan Ali, who told reporters during a media conference on Friday, March 21 that “The AML/CFT bill will affect everything, it does not take any intellectual capacity or any aspect of right thinking Guyanese to understand that the AML is a non -negotiable item”.
Like his other government colleagues, Ali said that the Bill should not be toyed with.
“It is not a political tool, a social tool or an economic tool, it is an international necessity that will destroy us if we don’t sign onto it, it has the potential of disrupting this sector tremendously, and any person who believes in tourism cannot believe in it without supporting the AML bill.”
As a result of the Bill’s non – passage in the National Assembly, Ali explained that the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) is now encountering difficulties in paying for ads in the region.
“Because we can’t transfer money, we are having problems, much less tour operators, the tourism sector is feeling the heat of the political madness that the opposition is going on with,” he stated.
Ali explained that it is the responsibility of politicians to pass the Bill since Guyanese from all walks of life have already showed their support for its passage.
