Govt, Opposition spar over PPC, local democracy

Government Chief Whip, Amna Ally, and People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Member of Parliament (MP), Ganga Persaud, traded barbs over the establishment of the Public Procurement Commission (PPC) and the state of local democracy in Guyana during the Budget debates last week.
Pointing to the fact that it was not by accident that Government has produced three budgets in the last eighteen months, Social Cohesion Minister Ally opined that the 2017 Budget takes the country onto the trajectory of development.

“It shows how proactive we are and the high level of commitment that we have to move Guyana forward. This country is now geared for operation development to take off on January 1, 2017,” she said.
According to the Chief Whip, despite these downturns, her Government still managed to achieve the establishment of three towns, two hinterland radio stations, improved drainage systems, the return of local democracy and the establishment of the PPC.
Many of these noted achievements were however quickly dismissed by Opposition MP Ganga Persaud, who reminded the House of discrepancies in six local authorities, noting that it was the previous Administration that put the PPC in place.
“The procurement commission could not have come into being without the thirty-two people on this side of the House agreeing to the members of that commission, something that the thirty-three on that side of the House failed to do for a number of years here.”
He noted that the current Government has held Local Government Elections which is still incomplete, adding that there are still six areas where the Guyana Elections Commission (Gecom) has failed and continues to fail to resolve those elections.
As heckling on both sides erupted, Speaker Dr Barton Scotland admonished that members remain focused.