Granger to outline coalition’s agenda when House resumes

… as Opposition presses debate on Public Servants CoI report

The National Assembly has come out of its recess and its first sitting is slated to be held next Thursday; at the top of its agenda is an address to the Members of Parliament by President David Granger.
The National Assembly on Thursday released the first Order Paper for the members of the Assembly which will officially come out of its annual recess for 2016 on Saturday.
The sitting of the first session of the Assembly is slated for a suspension to allow for a meeting of Parliament, at which point in time the President will deliver his address.
The President’s Communications Director has since confirmed to Guyana Times that the Head of State’s address is expected to centre on what the coalition’s agenda will be for the upcoming period.

AG Report

Following the President’s address, the members of the House are expected to immediately set about on their parliamentary agenda with the first order of business being the tabling of the 2015 Auditor General Report.
That report which will at the time be made public, is expected to document the continued abuse of the Contingency Fund by the ruling A Partnership for National Unity, Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government.
The report is also expected to document a litany of other infractions including that which had been made public in recent weeks, involving the procurement of a number of items for the Guyana Elections Commission.
That report is slated to be presented by Speaker of the National Assembly, Dr Barton Scotland.
The Education Minister is also slated to present to the members of the House, the Audited Financial Statements of the National Sports Commission for the years ending December 31, 2011 to 2013 in addition to the Audited Financial Statements of the National Trust of Guyana for the years ending December 31, 2013 and 2014.
Meanwhile the political Opposition is also expected to take advantage of the first sitting – should time permit – to pilot a debate seeking to have the members of the House agree to the contents and recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry into the public service being placed on the Order Paper so as to facilitate a substantive debate.
That Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the public service was appointed by President Granger on August 17, 2015, “to examine, advise and report of the salaries, conditions of service, training and other matters pertaining to the improvement of the efficiencies of the performance of the public service and the well-being of the public servants in the public service.”
That report was tabled in the House on May 24, 2016.
Thursday’s sitting of the House will be the first such since the consideration of Financial Papers in August last which revealed that Government had in fact entered into an agreement and had actually begun making millions in payments for the rental of a Sussex Street, Charlestown property to be used for the storage of drugs and medical supplies.