Following extensive scrutiny by the parliamentary opposition, the Committee of Supply on Monday evening officially approved $1.9 billion to advance critical intiatives under the Ministry of Legal Affairs’ purview.
Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Mohabir Anil Nandlall robustly defended the allocations in the parliamentry committee, noting that it will be used to advance legal education, community outreaches and to provide legal land ownership to thousands of families.
The minister informed that some $100 million has been earmarked to pay fees for the architectural designes for Guyana’s first law school; it is being developed in the compound of the University of Guyana.
Opposition Member of Parliament, Ganesh Mahipaul questioned if a contract was already awarded for the design, to which Minister Nandllal answered: “We have not finalised the drawings yet, but as part of our proposals to the Council of Legal Education, we had to do a sketch of what we are proposing as a building.”
He further explained that the government is funding the construction of the school, while the technical aspects of the project will be carried out in collaboration with the CLE. Bids will be advertised publicly for the construction of the building, he further affirmed.
On the other hand, over $448 million has been approved to conduct community sensitisation initiatives and the payment of the consolidation of the revised laws of Guyana for the period 2022 to 2025, among other initiatives.
“We will be launching as I⁵ said in my budget speech, law reports from 2008 to 2022 and we will immediately begin a compilation of judgements for the preparation of law reports from 2022 to 2025, and if possible, 2026,” Minister Nandlall eplained.
Under this sum, additionally, the Legal Affairs Ministry will advance the land regularisation in communities where families are living on ancestral lands for decades.
He informed the sums that land titles were already distributed in Cotton Tree, West Coast Berbice and is moving to advance this process in four villages in the West Coast of Berbice.
The communities of Melanie and No 46 Village are among some of the villages that will be regularised this year.
“The Government of Guyana pays all of the expenses in relation to these initiatives. We have also a budgetary sum that would conclude payments, a rather good payment of expenditures incurred in relation to the tribunal arbitration for the parking metre project in Paris,” Minister Nandlall further explained when questioned about the sums.
The Attorney General’s Chambers received in total, $1.4 billion for capital and current expenditures, while policy development and administration was earmarked over $351 million and the State Solicitor was approved $56 million.