Last week, we began a discussion of what should be our priorities for the New Year in terms of governance, transparency and accountability. We felt that the amendments to the Anti-Money Laundering Act should be given the highest priority since if these amendments are not approved before the end of the month, Guyana will be faced with sanctions for not having legislation in place that conforms to the standard recommendations used to evaluate countries’ efforts to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. We expressed the hope that the Select Committee of the National Assembly will expedite its work and there is political consensus on the outcome.
We looked at the issue of local government elections and indicated that an essential ingredient of local democracy is the holding of periodic elections to enable local residents to decide who they wish to be in charge of their affairs. It is regrettable that since 1994, there have been no local government elections although the law requires such elections to be held every three years. We pointed to the situation of the Georgetown City Council where: (a) garbage that poses a serious health risk keeps piling up; and (b) drains and canals are not being desilted to free them from weeds and garbage, resulting in the flooding of the city whenever it rains even for a few hours.
A related issue is the financial accountability of local government organs. We noted that in respect of the six municipalities, there have been no
