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by pltm
(PLTM) - Junior Minister of Trade and Investment Promotion, the Honourable Marlon Penn is accusing Attorney General (AG), the Honourable Baba Aziz, of misleading the House of Assembly (HoA) in the excuses provided for the delay in the Consumer Protection legislation.
Last Thursday, Hon. Aziz refuted claims that he and his office are responsible for the slow pace of progress to the Bill. The AG provided the House with the reasons for the delay, pointing to legal difficulties.
He was responding to sentiments by Hon. Penn in the media. However, Hon. Penn said that the AG’s justification is misleading.
Hon. Aziz had said, "There was a legal conundrum. The legal conundrum was simple, there is the intention to have a Trade Commission which is intended to be a Statutory Corporation. But that Statutory Corporation has not yet come into force and the Consumer Affairs Division is intended to be under the Trade Commission Corporation.”
As such, he said the Bill has not come to the House because “we do not want to refer to a non-existent body within the body of the Bill.”
However, the Junior Minister of Trade and Investment Promotion says that these difficulties have already been ironed out by the AG’s Office.
He said, “He [the AG] spoke of some of the specific things that we weren’t aware was an issue. In fact, when we speak to the people in his office, they are saying that those things are not an issue—they’ve been already worked around.”
Probed as to why he didn’t challenge the AG’s statement during the sitting of the House, Hon. Penn said he wasn’t provided with the opportunity.
“The other day when the AG spoke, I wanted to respond, but I went outside, thinking other persons would speak. I went to use the restroom; when I came back the Speaker had already closed off the session of other business, so she didn’t allow me to speak to clarify some of the things he raised.”
