Oil Spill, Integrity Commission Bills almost complete – AG

– says drafts of Anti-Harassment, Firearm Bills among others being reviewed

The Ministry of Legal Affairs has a full slate when it comes to its legislative agenda, with Bills such as the Oil Spill and Integrity Commission Bills almost complete and a range of other bills either being developed in the Attorney General (AG) Chambers or being reviewed by the respective Ministries and agencies.
During his end-of-year press conference on Saturday, AG Anil Nandlall outlined legislative priorities currently under development within the AG Chambers. These include the Regional Security System Bill, the CARICOM Arrest Warrant, and the Advanced Passenger Information and Names Registration Bills.
Other bills are the Company’s Bill, Food Safety Bill, Electricity Sector Reform Bill, National Heritage Preservation Bill, High Court Amendment Bill, Virtual Assets Bill, Integrity Commission Amendment Bill, Technical and Vocational Education Bill, the Oil Spill Bill, Mining Amendments Regulation and what he described as a “massive” Public Health Bill.
“We are working with PAHO (Pan American Health Organisation). That’s a massive, massive bill. You see we have a 1936 Public Health ordnance in Guyana. Public health concerns the depth of your drain, the size of your shed, and the distance between your shed and the closest erection. That’s the public health ordnance that governs all those things. Where you bury the dead.”
“So that will take some time. And we’ll have to do tremendous public consultations, in relation to that bill. All the NDC’s, RDC’s the Local Government Structure, will all have to be part of the consultation, since they have to administer this bill. Not to mention the public health sector itself. So, it’s a very involved and massive undertaking, that will take some time,” Nandlall explained.
However, Bills such as the Oil Spill Bill to better protect Guyana against oil spills and the Integrity Commission Bill to reform the Integrity Commission of Guyana, are almost completed. In the case of the Oil Spill Bill, they are about to do a final review of a particular mechanism within the bill, before it is sent over to the Office of the President (OP).
“The Integrity Commission Bill is almost completed… I believe Minister (of Governance and Parliamentary Affairs Gail) Teixeira wants final input and then we’ll take it from there… I know that the Oil Spill Bill has received a lot of public currency in recent times. The Bill is almost completed.”
“It’s one part of the bill I plan to relook at. And I plan to do it by the end of the year. Now what must be understood is that many of these bills are not one-sector bills. The oil spill bill involves the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Civil Defence Commission. So, it’s a multi-stakeholder initiative,” Nandlall added.
Under review
According to Nandlall, several Bills are also with different Ministers, such as Minister of Human Services and Social Protection Dr Vindhya Persaud who has the Protection from Harassment Bill and the Social Workers Licensing Bill. Additionally, Minister of Home Affairs Robeson Benn has a Firearms Control Bill.
“The Minister of Agriculture has a Food Safety Amendment Bill, Pesticides and Toxic Chemicals Amendment Bill, Plant Protection regulations, Rice Farmers Security of Tenure Amendment regulations,” the AG said.
“The Minister of Health has Telehealth Bill, Medicine Regulation Bill, Radiation Safety and Security regulations. With the judiciary, we have two bills. The Recording of Court Proceedings Bill and the Electronic Case Management System Bill. Those are two bills the judiciary has with them, reviewing right now.”
Other bills that are being reviewed by the respective Ministry include the Tourism Regulations for Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) and the Solid Waste Management Bill. And that is with the Local Government Ministry.
Then there are also the bills being worked on by a consultant, such as a bill to overhaul Guyana’s Evidence Laws and a bill for Judge alone trials. There is also a Rehabilitation of Offenders Bill, Alternative Sentencing Bill, Sexual Offences Bill, Public Procurement Bill and a Trust Bill as part of Guyana’s Anti Money Laundering/Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) obligations. (Jarryl Bryan)