Newly-appointed chairperson of the parliamentary Foreign Relations Committee Odessa Primus has said that among the most pressing areas of focus that will be pursued is the establishment of a migration policy to regulate the number of Venezuelan and other foreigners who are entering the country and settling here.
In an interview with Kiskadee Watch on Saturday, the We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) parliamentarian offered that the dates for the committee meetings will be submitted this week.
“There is no migration policy currently that governs what is transpiring in Guyana where people are just coming and setting up shop and are able to basically enjoy the benefits of any other Guyanese…I think having a policy that guides and informs how things happen here is very important,” she said.
“I also believe that while we have such a major border issue ongoing, I think it is unwise to have the magnitude of Venezuelans that we have living here. If today or tomorrow Venezuela says they would like to go to war with us, in as much as the government has indicated that they are securing the borders – which I don’t understand with the number of people coming across and able to move in here – the borders might very well be the least of our problems,” Primus observed.
“We may have the people sitting right here in our country who are able to effect those damages. It’s not like there’s a particular area where they are; they are everywhere. They’re in the residential areas, the ghetto; they’re everywhere,” she continued.
Primus expressed concern that Guyana lacks an effective system to monitor these activities, pointing to the recent discoveries of AK-47 rifles as an example. She said the weapons that were seized may represent only a fraction of those potentially already circulating in Guyana, describing the situation as deeply worrying and a matter of national security.
She also criticised President Irfaan Ali for not engaging Leader of the Opposition Azruddin Mohamed on issues of national importance, stating that personal differences should not interfere with cooperation on matters affecting the country’s security and well-being. Primus said she hoped to see greater political maturity in the approach taken to national issues, stressing that leaders should work together in the best interest of the Guyanese people.
Furthermore, she shared that the parliamentary committees were not functioning as they should because, in her view, the government was unwilling to be held accountable for its actions. She said that where opposition members are unable to achieve progress, they would seek assistance from stakeholders outside Parliament, including the media and the international community, rather than allow important matters to remain stalled due to a lack of engagement by the governing People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C).
Earlier this month, Speaker of the National Assembly Manzoor Nadir convened a meeting for the election of chairpersons to eight parliamentary committees.
WIN parliamentarian Vishnu Panday was appointed head of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), while Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall SC was elected Chairman of the Constitutional Reform Committee.
Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance Gail Teixeira was chosen to head the Committee on Appointments, and Prime Minister Mark Phillips was appointed Chairman of the Security Sector Committee.
Opposition MP Duarte Hetsberger was elected Chairman of the Economic Services Committee, Minister of Human Services and Social Security Dr Vindhya Persaud was appointed Chairperson of the Social Services Committee, and Minister of Natural Resources Vickram Bharrat was elected Chairman of the Natural Resources Committee.
Several parliamentarians told Kiskadee Watch after the appointments that some of the issues that need to be addressed include the backlog of matters plaguing the PAC, the infrequent meetings that are called, and the absenteeism of committee members, especially those representing the government.
Already, four scheduled meetings were cancelled this month due to the unavailability of PPP/C representatives.
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