Latest update April 23rd, 2024 12:59 AM
Jul 08, 2011 News
The Protected Areas Bill of 2011 made its way through the Parliamentary gauntlet successfully yesterday, but not without some lively exchanges.
Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud, who presented the Bill for its second and third readings, told the House that this piece of legislation comes at a time when the world has seen the disastrous impact of the consequences of climate change.
He went on to point out that countries in possession of the rich biodiversity and abundant resources that Guyana boasts are therefore called upon to protect and preserve that heritage.
The Bill calls for the establishment of a Protected Areas Commission, a Board and a Commissioner with oversight for the body, as well as the preparation of a National Protected Areas System Plan.
That system, as laid out in Part Three of the bill, consists of the Kaieteur National Park, the Programme Site of the Iwokrama International Centre for Rain Forest Conservation and Development, National Protected Areas, Amerindian Protected Areas, Protected Areas previously declared and privately managed Protected Areas.
The legislation also makes provision for the creation, management and variation or declassification of protected areas, along with the establishment and management of the Protected Area Trust Fund. Offences and penalties are addressed, in addition to enforcement of regulations in the National Protected Areas.
The Commissioner will have the power to appoint suitable individuals such as park wardens. Part 11 of the bill repeals elements of the National Parks Commission, letting the Minister with oversight for the area transfer, by order, some of the assets of the National Parks Commission to the Commission.
Part 13 of the Act also allows for the declaration of an emergency protection order to declare an interim protected area, if that area is under the threat of serious or irreversible harm. The interim protection order has a six-month life, but it may be renewed for a further six months by the Minister.
Persaud pointed out that the Guiana Shield is famous the world over for the sheer abundance of life it supports, but in recent years, activities such as forestry, mining, agriculture and infrastructure development have placed enormous pressures on the ecosystems of the area.
He said that there needed to be a comprehensive approach to the issue which led to the advent of this Bill.
He told the house that the Bill fits into the constitutional framework, citing Article 36 of the Constitution which states, “in the interests of the present and future generations, the State will protect and make rational use of its land, mineral and water resources, as well as its fauna and flora, and will take all appropriate measures to conserve and improve the environment.”
People’s National Congress Reform MP, Mervyn Williams, was not so willing to take the Bill at face value however. He said that the legislation “seems innocuous on the surface” but he felt that there were issues raised in it which needed to be addressed.
Williams raised the question of the Bill being a mechanism for the implementation of the Government’s Low Carbon Development Strategy.
A position seconded by Alliance For Change Presidential Candidate Khemraj Ramjattan, who asserted that the tabling of such a Bill, at what he called the “eleventh hour of this Parliament”, suggests that there may be some ulterior motive.
He raised the point that perhaps the Bill may be seen by the authorities as a step in the direction of the LCDS and the Government may be hoping that there may be some “offloading” of Norway funds from the World Bank.
Persaud in his response noted that this was a misrepresentation on the part of the Opposition parties. He said that the Government has submitted several project proposals to the steering committee appointed by the World Bank and on June 14, at least one of these proposals had received the go-ahead. According to the Minister, the Protected Areas Bill is parallel to the LCDS, but the two are separate and distinct responses to the same situation.
Williams also tabled several amendments to the Bill, the majority of which were passed with no objection, although the Agriculture Minister stated that the Government opposed one amendment in particular, that called for the regulation of the harvesting and exploitation of species, since according to the wildlife legislation, there is to be no harvesting of vulnerable, threatened or endangered wildlife whatsoever, and as such, there was no room for such an amendment.
Several blanks in the legislation that needed to be filled in were also pointed out by MP Williams, who noted that there is an absence of definition for the ‘Minister’ mentioned in the Bill.
He queried if it was a repeat of the case with the Broadcast legislation. Clauses where the President was suddenly named without precedence in the document were also brought to light, and Williams pointed out that the PNCR “feels that there is no role for the President in this Bill and any provision to include the President will be strongly objected to.”
Despite the back and forth, however, the Bill was passed yesterday afternoon and is to be amended as necessary.
LISTEN HOW JAGDEO WILL MAKE ALL GUYANESE RICH!!!
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