Georgetown : The Telecommunication Bill 2012 and the Public Utilities Commission (Amendment) Bill 2012 were both sent to the same Special Select Committee when they came up for second readings before the National Assembly yesterday.
Prime Minister Samuel Hinds moved the readings signalling the end of consultations between the Government and stakeholders which have been ongoing for some time.
The consultations had significantly delayed the Bills which target the liberalisation of the sectors, and ending the monopoly the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T).
Opposition members expressed concern that the Telecommunication Bill gave too much powers to the subject Minister regarding granting permission for companies to be opened. Prime Minister Hinds explained that this was not so, and that the Minister would be advised by the relevant bodies set up to oversee this procedure before doing so.
A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Carl Greenidge expressed the hope that the Bill would take into consideration the fact that digital and telecommunication changes would require Government to put in place a flexible framework.
The Prime Minister expressed the hope that the work of the Committee would be done to enable a new telecommunication regime by January 2014.
The new laws seek to remove and resolve areas of conflict which exist in the current act and the public utilities commission act. They are also expected to distinguish the responsibility of the subject minister and will see new licencing provisions among others.
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