Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Casino gambling legislation is a means by which criminal elements in Guyana
can conceal their various activities including extra-judicial killings and a
number of other illegal activities. PNCR-IG Leader and Opposition Leader
Robert Corbin levelled this charge when he addressed persons gathered at
Parliament Buildings yesterday following a protest march co-sponsored by his
party. He told persons there that casino gambling would provide a "lovely
smokescreen" for drug lords who have engaged in extra-judicial killings and
promoted phantom squads among other things. Corbin urged that Guyanese not
underestimate what the government plans to do today in Parliament. This is
why, the Opposition Leader said, the party had invited other organizations
to co-sponsor the rally yesterday noting that it was a struggle for not only
certain sectors but for all Guyanese. "If the police cannot control a march
how can they control gangsterism?" Corbin queried. "Tell your bosses," he
said to the police, "that the people at the rally chose to behave
responsibly." Referring to events in Georgia and other places the PNCR
leader reminded his supporters that history has shown that people have power
in their hands to bring the government to its senses. This is a challenge,
he said, presented by a government that has such arrogance that it does what
it likes irrespective of what the people desire. The battle is not won by
those sitting on the sidelines, Corbin said, noting that they had told the
government based on their own research that 16% was too high a rate for the
Value Added Tax (VAT). The opposition is suggesting that VAT be charged at
8%. The PNCR leader recalled that party representative Winston Murray had
met with the government and told it that the rate proposed for VAT would be
unbearable on the poor. "The authorities are not ready for the
implementation of VAT... and they have to get relief or the people of the
country would die," said Corbin.