Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo last evening accused the Parliamentary Opposition of seeking to sell “negativism, and pessimism to Guyanese” after they dragged talks of the coalition government killing the rice and sugar industry into a debate on the Petroleum Commission of Guyana Bill 2017.
Minister Raphael Trotman
This is according to a Gina/DPI report which states that Minister of Natural Resources Raphael Trotman had earlier in the evening moved the second reading of the Bill, but immediately after, indicated that he would be sending the legislation to a Special Select Committee for it to benefit from input from the Opposition and the industry stakeholders.
Despite this, each Opposition Speaker that followed Minister Trotman sought to make a case for the legislation to be sent to a Special Select Committee, accusing the government of rushing the Bill. They also accused the government of killing off the traditional sectors in a rush to get to the oil.
Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo rising to support Minister Trotman however noted that the Opposition’s “gloom and doom” comes at a time when they “want to wage war against everything good from the government and are trying to sell negativism, and pessimism to Guyanese.” “They will kill anything that seems to prosper in this country as they commit political “Hari Kari,” the Prime Minister said.
He denied claims that his government was trying to kill sugar and the rice industry noting it was the Opposition that created “a glorious white elephant in the Skeldon Estate.”
Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo
He expressed the hope that even after the Opposition’s riotous behaviour, they would support the Bill. He said the new Bill was actually an improved position compared to what the obtained.
Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo then arose to speak, even as Minister Trotman proposed that the debate be suspended and the Bill sent as proposed, to the Select Committee. After the Speaker intervened, Jagdeo was allowed to speak. He said he was happy that the Bill would be sent to a Select Committee, urging that, “What happened in the past may not be the best guide or practice which keeps evolving of an oil economy.” He cited the fact that bad management of oil resources have led to many countries being worse off.