Minister of Legal Affairs and Attorney General, Basil Williams, today presented the recently appointed members of the Commercial and Deeds Registry Board with their certificates of appointment.
The board is chaired by Christine McGowan and the other members include: Gillian Pollard of the Ministry of Finance, Aretha Henry of the Ministry of Communities, Sharon Small of the Guyana Bar Association, Kumar Dorasami of the Guyana Association of Legal Professionals, and Major General (ret’d) Norman McLean of the Private Sector Commission. The board will serve for a period of two years from June 15, 2017 to June 14, 2019.
During the handing over ceremony at the Attorney General Chambers, Minister Basil highlighted the need for closer collaboration with the Deeds and Commercial Registries and the Ministry, in order to provide effective service to the citizens.
The Attorney General explained that the board comes within a corporate body, which means that it has its legal status, separate and distinct from the employees of the registry. “The Act had given certain functions and it provides for the respective registrars to provide the day to day running of the respective registry. The board also has its functions, but the act provides that the Minister responsible for the authority, which is the Minister of Legal Affairs, could give directions to the board and of course the board has to carry out the directions,” he noted.
Minister Williams asserted that the board has to work with directions, especially as it relates to policy.
Over the past two years, Minister Basil noted that there has been significant development regarding the day to day functions of the registries.
The Deeds and Commercial Registry Authority Amendment Bill 2017 is scheduled for debate at the next setting of the National Assembly on June 15. Minister Williams said that once the Bill is passed, the additional members will be added to the board, the Ministry of Business, the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) and the Chief Evaluation Officer.
Chairperson of the board, Christine McGowan said that board’s first priority is to get an understanding on what is happening at the registries, the challenges and concerns of the staff, and ensuring that the registries are working in accordance with the standard operating procedures.