May 22, 2013 | By KNews | Filed Under News

The government is rushing to avoid financial blacklisting because the “parallel economy”, overflowing with illicit funds which benefits its ‘boys’, could be dried up, Khemraj Ramjattan, leader of the Alliance for Change (AFC) said yesterday. The government’s efforts to rush through amendments to the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (Amendment) Bill 2013 (AML/CFT) by at least today have failed. The Special Parliament Committee examining the amendments is not done with its work, so there is no report to put to the House for a vote today.

AFC Leader – Khemraj Ramjattan

The government wants the amendments passed before it faces the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) next week. The Task Force could recommend a host of sanctions which could stifle illicit funds which benefit government functionaries, Ramjattan asserted. He said the type of controls the amendments could put in place also caused the government to drag its feet on the issue, and it is now accusing the opposition of dancing. Guyana has been listed as being partially-compliant in its monitoring of “politically exposed persons” (PEPs) as recommended by the internationally-recognised Financial Action Task Force. This recommendation is designed to prevent the flow of money laundering and fraud by prominent, politically connected people. If the blacklisting goes into effect, bank officials must take reasonable measures to establish the source of wealth and source of funds and conduct enhanced ongoing monitoring of the business relationship.” “This means that ‘the boys’ will have to take their monies elsewhere than where they usually have it stashed. Here is another reason why the PPP was since 2009 doing all in its capacity to drag this thing out for as long as possible,” Ramjattan told Kaieteur News. He said that even when the Bill is eventually passed in the House, whenever that is, the PPP will not do much to implement it. The AFC has said it will not support the amendments unless the government signals concrete efforts to set up the Public Procurement Commission and unless President Donald Ramotar rethinks assenting to two Bills passed by the National Assembly. On Monday, the major opposition coalition, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), withdrew from the work of the committee over the fact that the government ‘ducked’ a letter from the (CFATF) which recommended that it (the letter) be shared with the Leader of the Opposition, the Parliamentary opposition and other stakeholders. The letter had said that Guyana’s report  to the May 2013 CFATF Plenary should be comprehensive, in writing, and submitted to the Secretariat well ahead of the Plenary meeting  and in any event by May 6, 2013.” The AFC said that among several issues of the utmost national importance outlined in the letter were several warnings and references to various earlier notifications to the Government of Guyana of the precarious position that Guyana was potentially exposed to since November 2012. The CFATF noted the government’s assertions to refocus the national efforts towards implementing measures set out in Guyana’s action plan, but pointed to several missed deadlines. “The AFC considers the suppression of the letter by the Government of Guyana from the Opposition and the people of Guyana a betrayal of immense proportions,” the party said in a statement. The AFC said “it (Govt.) ducked the letter from the CFATF to President Donald Ramotar and after having placed the country in great jeopardy and missing several deadlines, came with reptilean tears to the nation warning of the dire consequences of failure to support the Bill.” As a result, the party said that it is now clear that this government’s commitment to stamp out money laundering is highly questionable. “The AFC is of the firm view that the Government’s recklessness in the management of the country’s national and international affairs is nothing short of treachery. The country is now forced to seriously consider what other matters of national importance have been hidden from the nation.” The party said that it views the sustained attacks by Government on the Opposition on this issue as a smokescreen, to hide its delinquent behaviour in not pursuing reforms to fight financial crimes as required. “The accusations of ‘political pettiness’, ‘insensitivity’ and ‘irrationality’ aptly describe the PPP/C government,” the AFC stated.