Final hearings on budget cuts set for May 8

The Supreme Court through its registrar has dispatched letters to all concerned parties informing them that May 8 is the date for the commencement of the final hearings into a lawsuit brought against Opposition Leader David Granger and House Speaker Raphael Trotman by the government over the vexed issue of budgetary cuts.
The government represented by Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Anil Nandlall has been contesting that the cuts made last year were unconstitutional and ought to be reversed through the respective mechanisms.
Acting Chief Justice Ian Chang, who heard government’s ex-parte application in the matter had delivered a preliminary ruling which has been interpreted differently by all concerned. The opposition contended that the ruling vindicated their cuts while the government has deemed the opposition’s actions unlawful.
Nandlall has been consistently arguing that the ruling provides the opposition with the option of either approving or withholding their approval altogether for the estimates.
They do not have the option to cut or reallocate monies, he told Guyana Times International again on Wednesday. But, the opposition is standing firm in its position that it has the constitutional right to cut and reduce estimates arguing, that to ask the Parliament just to approve or withhold approval would merely reduce its functions to a ceremonial one, thereby rendering the Committee of Supply of the Parliament meaningless.
After a round of heated debates and several emotional outbursts, last week Trotman ruled that the National Assembly was not bound by any “preliminary” ruling of the Supreme Court as it did not agree that the courts had any supervisory oversight authority over the Parliament.
Trotman in a lengthy ruling told the government that the Standing Orders of the parliament provided for the reduction of the estimates even as he reminded the opposition that they should exercise their powers cautiously and judiciously.
Since then, the opposition has axed several billions of dollars in development projects from the Gy$ 208.8 billion.
Billions of dollars were cut from GPL, the Specialty Hospital Project, the Cheddi Jagan International Airport expansion project, and more cuts are planned for the Housing Ministry’s Central Housing and Planning Authority, the Marriot Hotel Project and other aspects of the budget.
Civil society, the private sector nor sections of the labour movement have found favour with the cuts as many believe that it is the people of Guyana that will be likely affected as opposed to the government alone. Acting Chief Justice Chang is expected to make his final ruling which may see certain orders being given and damages awarded as well as costs if government emerges victorious.
In the meantime, the government will have two options remaining when the consideration of the estimates comes to an end today (Thursday): either it accepts the amended estimates and do damage control where possible as it seeks to govern or move to the courts again to seek redress on the matter.