Over Gy$22M allocated to Granger’s office

Over Gy$22 million has been approved by the National Assembly for the Office of the Leader of the Opposition to carry out its functions.
Some Gy$6.7 million of the amount was granted to the office to be used for the purchase of furniture and office supplies. Granger and other members of his party had complained about the lack of furniture for his office. They said furniture was purchased prior to Granger taking up the office, but it was disposed of.

“This is a deliberate attempt to paralyse my office, it was brought to the attention of the president and to the attention of the Speaker, the office cannot function at present by the way it is, the amount allocated is not designed to allow the office to function in its full capacity,” Granger argued.
However, government’s Chief Whip Gail Teixeira said the furniture was purchased for the then Opposition Leader Robert Corbin, but was not utilised. Corbin had operated out of Congress Place as leader of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) and opposition leader, and as such, there was no need for the furniture.
Teixeira said after the furniture was left dormant at the Parliament office, a decision was made to utilise it. From reports, the furniture is being used by Parliament staff.
However, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Member of Parliament (MP) Joseph Harmon asked Teixeira to provide the evidence, stating that head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr Roger Luncheon had told him that he instructed that the furniture be removed.
Not Dr Luncheon
Teixeira, in her response to this, stated that it was the Parliamentary Management Committee that made the decision, and it was not Dr Luncheon.
Teixeira noted too that the then committee was made up of both government and opposition members.
“… it was the Parliamentary Management Committee that made that decision… Dr Luncheon might have disturbance about the furniture sitting there and not being used, but nevertheless, it wasn’t Luncheon but the parliamentary committee that made the decision,” Teixeira clarified. Speaker Raphael Trotman said the matter must be rectified and the opposition leader’s office must be granted the monies that it has asked for.
The National Assembly in 2010 passed a bill that sets out in law the benefits to which the opposition leader is entitled and the move was hailed as “a step in the maturing of our governance”.
The legislation seeks to provide certain facilities and services to the opposition leader at the expense of the state. According to the act, the holder of the office shall be entitled, to rent-free furnished office accommodation; medical attention, including medical treatment or reimbursement of medical expenses incurred by him for himself and the dependent members of his family; full-time security service at his official place of residence and at his office to be provided by the Guyana Police Force; the services of a research assistant, an executive assistant/secretary, a clerical/office assistant, a chauffeur, a personal security officer, a gardener and two domestic servants; and salary, vacation allowance and parliamentary benefits equivalent to those of a Cabinet minister.
The legislation, which has been deferred several times since being laid in the House in 2009, was piloted through its final reading by Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh, who said it had its origins in two strands of development; namely, the engagements between the president and the opposition leader and more particularly, as it related to the establishment of the constitutional office of the opposition leader.