Minister of Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh said on Wednesday that the Government would welcome a debate in Parliament on the subject of the proposed sale of the minority shareholding in the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company Limited.
Minister Singh was responding to the suggestion by the Opposition PNC/R that, that party intended to move to the Parliament to try to block the proposed sale, as recently reported in some sections of the press.
The Minister indicated that the Government’s willingness to debate the issue is so strong that, were the Opposition to fail to raise the matter in Parliament, the Government might itself consider initiating such a debate in Parliament.
The Minister said that Government’s overriding concern continues to be the modernising and liberalising of the telecommunications sector, as a means of ensuring more widespread and affordable access to reliable information and communications technology.
He stated that this is seen as a critical prerequisite for the achievement of growth in ICT as a productive sector and provider of jobs in its own right, but also as a sector that affects the competitiveness of all other economic activity in the country and that influences the effectiveness with which Government services can be delivered throughout the country.