Latest update May 10th, 2024 12:59 AM
Sep 16, 2016 News
By Kiana Wilburg
The practice of extracting private wealth from state assets is one the current administration intends to
address without fear or favour. One of the ways it intends to do so is with the formal establishment of the State Assets Recovery Unit (SARU), according to Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Basil Williams.
During a recent meeting with the press, Williams fielded questions on the Private Sector and the Opposition on the State Asset Recovery Agency (SARA) Bill.
The first concern raised was the call by the Private Sector for more consultations on the SARA Bill.
Williams was quick to disregard this issue as he felt there was no basis for the contention.
The Minister of Legal Affairs said that consultations on the Bill were held at the Pegasus Hotel, and that the Private Sector was invited to attend. He said that money was invested in advertising the public event weeks before it took place.
In spite of this, Williams said that neither the Private Sector Commission (PSC) nor the political Opposition showed up.
Williams said, “We are using taxpayers’ money to hold these consultations and when consultations are not held they made a lot of noise. Now that we are holding consultations, they are not going on.”
The Minister of Legal Affairs also stated that the SARA Bill is being driven by the Asset Recovery Unit which is headed by Dr. Clive Thomas. The politician noted that the Unit is working closely with the World Bank and United Nations on the Bill.
The provisions of the Bill “are not pulled out from someone’s back pocket,” he said.
The Attorney General reminded that it was the former regime that had signed on to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) but never implemented the provisions which followed.
“The international community is now demanding that if you want to be amongst the members of the community and be involved in it, then you have to comply with the conventions you signed on to.
“When you look at the SARU Bill you will see that all the provisions in it are provisions taken out of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption, so don’t let the opposition try to fool you,” said the Legal Affairs Minister.
He added, “They must explain why they are so mortally afraid of the operationalization of SARA.”
Asked if he would be willing to meet with members of the Private Sector on a ‘one on one basis’ to hear their views on the SARA Bill, Williams said that he is not the one driving the process.
He said that SARU is in charge of it. Williams also recalled that wide consultations were already held and the “Private Sector Commission must stop disrespecting the public.”
The Minister of Legal Affairs told reporters that he was not in a position to comment on whether the final Bill would be completed and ready before Parliament comes out of recess in October.
He said that this is an issue that would have to be addressed by Dr. Thomas. Williams added that while some are making submissions on the Bill, they should remember that the relevant authorities are not bound to include them in the final draft.
The PSC had said that it accepts that all assets or resources belonging to the State that were unlawfully or criminally transferred to any beneficiary must be recovered and returned to the State, once such unlawful transactions become known and criminal convictions obtained.
However, the Commission is of the view that the current draft State Asset Recovery Bill 2016 is deeply flawed and inconsistent with many of the fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution.
The PSC said that it has obtained legal representation and will be making known its objections to the legislation to the Attorney General and to members of the Legislature.
The Commission also stated, that the SARA Bill is not a good signal to investors who will require access to state resources such as land, licences, access rights etc. It believes that the Bill provides opportunities for legitimate investors to be harassed and politically victimized.
The Commission said, “The Bill has been drafted from the perspective that the Government of Guyana does not know what it owns or what the State has lost over the years.
“As such, it provides all-encompassing investigative and surveillance powers to the Director and Staff of the Agency to snoop around into private accounts and financial records of citizens to determine what assets of the State were lost and need to be recovered.”
“This is a complete affront to the fundamental rights of citizens, and if such powers are granted they can be used to marginalize, suppress and take advantage of vulnerable members of the population through political intimidation.”
With this in mind, the PSC said that it is extremely concerned that the powers provided to the Director of SARA will blur the lines of separation of functions of the Executive and the Judiciary.
The Commission also questioned the need for Ministers to designate to the Director and Staff of SARA, as they see fit, the power of a revenue or customs officer, of a police officer and immigration officer rather than requesting collaboration and coordination of efforts amongst these agencies.
The PSC believes that the SARA Bill is premature and redundant.
In this regard, it said that many of the intelligence-gathering mechanisms to be used by SARA have already been enacted in the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Legislation, and included in the mandate of the Integrity Commission, both of which have not been fully functional to date.
“So SARA is about intelligence gathering? They think the Convention Against Corruption is redundant? We have news for them. We intend to root out corruption. So they should be afraid,” Williams said.
The Parliamentarian said that the practice of extracting private wealth from state assets as practised by the previous administration must be addressed.
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