Dear Editor,
On November 20, 2020 Guyana Chronicle carried a headline: Constitutional reform meaningless without constitutional compliance – Attorney General. In the text of that article, the then and present Attorney General, Anil Nandlall, was reported to have ‘urged that adherence to the Constitution is of equal importance as the reform itself’. At the Turkeyen and Tain Talks held under the theme “Constitutional Reform: to court brave change or leave well enough alone”, he is reported to have said: ”At present the need for constitutional compliance trumps the need for constitutional reform in Guyana.”
These pronouncements came to mind when I read an article captioned: “No increase in rates and taxes- Govt. assures” in Guyana Times of January 17, 2021. In that article, the Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Nigel Dharamlall, is reported to have said that “the People`s Progressive Party/Civic had opposed the decision to increase taxes by the previous coalition Administration and as such, will not be taking that same path.” He went on to say that “We assure our citizens that there will be no increases in rates and taxes.” The reference here is the property taxes which are rated by and paid to local authorities (municipalities and neighbourhood democratic councils).
I take umbrage with those pronouncements which if actualized will be blatant disregard for, and breach of, the Constitution and the laws of Guyana.
May I hasten to state that I am not in any way lobbying for increases in property taxes, at the local level. That is a matter that warrants a discussion in its own right. I am drawing attention to the brazen and blatant flouting of the Constitution that is being touted by those who swore to uphold the Constitution but are on a daily rampage to vilifying others for supposedly flouting our laws.
Article 75 of the Constitution states: “Parliament shall provide that local democratic organs shall be autonomous and take decisions which are binding upon their agencies and institutions, and upon the communities and citizens of their areas.” A bipartisan Local Government Task Force was established to recommend amendments to the local government laws, among other instruments, for the purpose of giving life to the constitutional provisions (amendments). Among the amendments recommended and legislated into law is the following: Section 54 (2): “For the words ‘approval,’ substitute the word ‘notification’ and delete the words ‘and the Minister may approve of them either in their entirety or subject to such changes as he may think fit’”. That amendment was made to Part VI (ESTIMATES and RATES) of the LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT and relieved the Minister of the power to approve the Estimates of Neighbourhood Democratic Councils and the Rates therein prescribed. It provides for a fiscal aspect of local autonomy, in keeping with the provision of Article 75 of Constitution. Minister Dharamlall and the Manifesto to which he referred are therefore embracing unconstitutional and unlawful acts until and unless that provision that provide for autonomy at the local level is amended or repealed.
I therefore return to Nandlall`s exhortations: compliance! and pose the question: is he knowingly, as the Attorney General, the custodian of our laws, abandoning his gate keeper function and facilitating administrative malfeasance? Was his view that compliance is essential to constitutionality merely lip service and that what`s good for the goose is not good for the gander?
Yours truly
Vincent Alexander
