Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Mohabir Anil Nandlall, S.C, has announced a packed legislative agenda that the PPP/C Government has set out for 2022.
He made the announcement during his presentation on the final day of the national budget debate, Friday. Themed, ‘Steadfast against all challenges, resolute in building our One Guyana,’ this year’s budget of $552.9 billion contains a slew of measures to create wealth for all Guyanese and improve their livelihoods. This follows the $383.1 billion national budget in 2021. “The aggregate budgeted sum of a mammoth $552 billion constitutes, by far, the largest financial injection, ever, in the Guyanese economy. I have said elsewhere, it is like injecting a racehorse with a huge dose of steroid before the race begins.
Without the gigantic spinoff benefits destined to flow therefrom, the mere expenditure of this massive sum will invigorate every corner of this nation with a level of commercial, economic, and social activity never witnessed before,” the Attorney General articulated on Friday. As part of his year’s legislative agenda, Minister Nandlall outlined the following as the items on the itinerary:
1. Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Control) (Amendment) Bill 2021
2. Hire-Purchase Bill
3. Pipeline following: Juvenile Justice (Amendment) Bill
4. Evidence (Amendment) Bill
5. Suicide Prevention Bill
6. Border Patrol Bill
7. Wills (Amendment) Bill
8. Restorative Justice Bill
9. Combatting of Trafficking in Persons
10. Bail Bill
11. Condominium Bill
12. Mental Health Services Bill
13. Leave with Pay (Amendment) Bill
14. Electronic Communications and Transactions Bill
15. Anti-Dumping
16. Engineers Bill
17. Securities Bill
18. Wales Development Authority Bill
19. Public Service Appellate Tribunal (Amendment) Bill
20. National Intelligence and Security Agency Bill
21. Representation of the People Bill
22. National Registration Bill
23. Election Laws Bill
24. Surveillance Devices Bill
25. Arbitration Bill
26. Hemp Bill
27. Public Health Bill
28. Medical Practitioners Bill
29. Nurses and Midwives Bill
30. Solid Waste Management Bill
31. Foreign Judgments Bill
32. Firearms Bill
33. Domestic Violence Bill
34. Radiation Safety and Protection Bill
35. Legislative Amendments to relevant laws to allow for Judge-alone criminal trials
36. Subsidies and Countervailing Measures Bill
37. Safeguard Measures Bill
38. Amendments to the Sexual Offences Act
In his presentation, the Attorney General noted that many of these Bills have already been sent to the respective ministries for the ministers to review. Additionally, Minister Nandlall said the recently established Law Reform Commission will move into gear in 2022. “Last week I met with them, and they promised that within a month they will complete their work programme for the year 2022, their first full year in office. I have requested that they meet with certain important stakeholder organisations in our country and to receive recommendations for law reform. The work of this Commission will further augment the government’s legislative agenda,” the Attorney General said. Friday is the final day of the Budget 2022 debates. (DPI)
