As it finalises legislation to govern the efficiency of the business environment in Guyana, government is including detailed provisions to prevent corruption and negligence from slowing up permit awards.
Attorney General, Mohabir Anil Nandlall said these provisions will allow for permits to be regarded as awarded by default, if regulators fail to review applications within the period the law stipulates.
The Minister of Legal Affairs made this revelation in his feature address at the launch of a realtor association at Duke Lodge, Georgetown, on Thursday.
He explained, “If an application is sent to a Minister, that Minister is required to send an acknowledgment out and time begins to run for the processing of that application from the time that the Minister sends that acknowledgment out, and if the time delimited in the legislation expires and that grant of whatever it is that you’re applying for is not made, then by default, your application is granted.”
The Minister said the President, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali, insisted on the inclusion of such safeguards in new legislation. He said it is critical, “so that your paper or your application is not left languishing in some office while your business opportunity perishes, cost of production goes up, and the cost of you eventually putting up the project that you intended to put up skyrockets to no fault of your own.”
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Discussing the current systems for permit reviews, Nandlall said they require investors to go through repetitive, laborious processes to secure permits from various agencies.
“There is a significant amount of bureaucratic red tape, malaise, negligence, and corruption. Let us take the bull by the horn,” Nandlall said.
The new legislation will allow for the submission of documents to a single unit. The assigned unit, under the new disposition, will be responsible for directing the applications to the respective agencies.
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In the new process, Nandlall said “you will be required to turn up back at that unit at an agreed time. Let’s say four months down the line, and when you turn up at that unit, you have all your approvals to uplift in one singular upliftment.”
The government is also finalising an e-transaction bill, Nandlall said. This will allow for the government system to transition to paperless transactions.
The need for updated legislation to govern permit review processes in Guyana has come to the fore as investor interest continues to grow in Guyana. The government is expecting billions in oil revenues in the coming years, and this is stimulating growth in various other sectors.
