Chairmen of parliamentary standing and sectoral committees elected

The chairmen of several bipartisan standing parliamentary and sectoral committees were elected on Monday at a meeting convened by the Speaker of the National Assembly.

The Parliament Office said the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) would be chaired by We Invest in Nationhood’s Vishnu Panday, Constitutional Reform Committee by Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall, Oversight Committee on the Security Sector by Retired Brigadier Mark Phillips, and the Committee of Appointments by Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance Gail Teixeira.

The chairmen of the parliamentary sectoral committees are We Invest in Nationahood (WIN)’s Duarte Hetsberger for economic services, Dr. Vindhya Persaud for social services, WIN’s Odessa Primus for foreign relations, and Minister Vickram Bharrat for natural resources.

In keeping with the Standing Orders of the National Assembly, the Speaker of the National Assembly serves as Chairperson of the Standing Orders Committee, the Assembly Committee, the Committee of Privileges and the Statutory Instrument Committee.

“The constitution of these committees marks an important milestone in the work of the Thirteenth Parliament, enabling Members to begin their oversight, to examine all policies and administration for each sector, to determine whether the execution of Government policy is in consonance with the principles of good governance and in the best interest of all the people of Guyana,” the Parliament Office said.

Representing the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPPC)-led government on the PAC are minister Teixeira, public works minister Juan Edghill, Deputy Speaker Vishwa Mahadeo, and parliamentarians Suresh Singh and Sanjeev Datadin.

WIN’s representatives on the PAC are Mr Panday and Ms Nandranie Singh, and A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) is represented by Ganesh Mahipaul and Juretha Fernandes.

Other members of the parliamentary oversight committee on the security sector are attorney general and legal affairs minister Nandlall, finance minister Dr Ashni Singh, foreign affairs minister Hugh Todd, and home affairs minister Oneidge Walrond.

Representing WIN are Toshana Femey-Corlette and Mr Hetsberger, while APNU’s are Sherod Duncan and Saiku Andrews.

Sitting on the Constitutional Reform Committee for the government are Mr Nandlall, local government and regional development minister Priya Manickchand, culture, youth and sport minister Charles Ramson Jr, labour and manpower planning minister Keoma Griffith and James Bond.

For WIN are Tabitha Sarabo-Halley and Gordon Barker, and Mr Mahipaul and Dexter Todd for APNU.

With regard to the parliamentary sectoral committees, government members on the Economic Services Committee are Dr Singh, Mr Edghill, agriculture minister Zulfikar Mustapha, tourism, industry and commerce minister Susan Rodrigues, and junior public works minister Madanlall Ramraj.

WIN’s members are Mr Hetsberger and Gobin Harbajan, and APNU’s are Dr Terrence Campbell and Juretha Fernandes.

The Sectoral Committee on Human Services is made up of Dr Persaud, Amerindian affairs minister Sarah Browne-Shadeek, Dr Mahadeo and Sonia Latchman for the government, and Ms Natasha Singh, Ms Primus and Ryan Richards for WIN.

APNU’s lone committee member is Coretta McDonald.

The ruling PPPC members on the Sectoral Committee on Natural Resources are Mr Bharrat, public utilities minister Deodat Indar, local government and regional development junior minister Pauline Sukhai, junior housing minister Vanessa Benn, and Ms Thandi McAllister.

WIN’s representatives are Ms Primus, Andre Lewis and Mr Richards.

APNU’s member is Kuice Sharma Solomon.

Sitting for the government on the sectoral committee on Foreign Relations are Mr Todd; office of the prime minister’s Kwame McCoy, Dr Jennifer Westford, Seepaul Narine and Bhagmattie Veerasammy.

Those representing WIN are Ms Primus and Dr Andre Lewis, while WIN’s members are Ms McDonald and Dr Riaz Rupnarain.