GIS Press Release
Minister of Tourism, Irfaan Ali says like every other sector, tourism will be gravely affected by the non-passage of the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AMLCFT) Amendment Bill.
During a media briefing today, when asked about the impact of the bill on the sector, Minister Ali said, “The AML/CFT bill will affect everything, it does not take any intellectual capacity or any aspect of right thinking Guyanese to understand that the AML is a non -negotiable item”.
The Minister added that the bill is not something that should be toyed around with.
“It is not a political tool, a social tool or an economic tool, it is an international necessity that will destroy us if we don’t sign onto it, it has the potential of disrupting this sector tremendously, and any person who believes in tourism cannot believe in it without supporting the AML bill.”
Minister Ali alluded to the fact that tourism is about a fast and efficient way of transferring money.
“The Guyana Tourism Authority now is having problems paying for ads in the region because we can’t transfer money, we are having problems, much less tour operators, the tourism sector is feeling the heat of the political madness that the opposition is going on with,” he stated.
Hence, the Minister reiterated the call for the members of the opposition to put their differences aside and pass the bill.
“It’s time they mature up and put Guyana first, put the tourism sector first and the livelihood of the people within this sector first to put the thousands of the persons who depend on this sector first, and the investors first, instead of their selfishness by not supporting this bill”.
Minister Ali added that it is the responsibility of politicians to pass this bill since Guyanese from all walks of life have already showed their support for its passage.
“Every single sane Guyanese has laid out their support for the bill. It’s not about politics, it’s issues that are affecting people, competitive politics is to win the minds of people with ideas, values, and policies, not destroying the country’s financial architecture.”