Ramdeen: Non-profits in panic mode

VOWING not to support the Non Profit Organisations Bill under debate in the Senate yesterday (Tuesday), Opposition Senator Gerald Ramdeen lamented the bill has unfairly thrown the NPO sector into panic mode. “Hundreds of NPOs have not seen the bill and those that have seen in are in panic.”

He stormed, “Let’s amend the title (to) an Act to provide for the Elimination, Abolition and Destruction of NPOs.”

Ramdeen urged all to show respect to people in NPOs who volunteer their lives to help others. He reckoned 10,000 NPOs would be affected by the bill, plus some 100,000 people who benefit from NPOs. Ramdeen named among NPOs which had not been consulted on the bill Autism Spirit, CAISO, the RC Commission on Social Justice, Families in Action, Fishermen and Friends of the Sea, and the Islamic Ladies Organisation.

He lamented that the bill requires an NPO to register every three years, including displaying its accounts and photos of its directors, with a failure to register exposing them to a $50,000 fine plus five years' jail.

Ramdeen said the bill will affect groups as innocuous as church groups, beach clean-up groups, PTAs and football clubs.

“When the election comes, show them this bill,” he advised NPO members. He said while government candidates will want to talk to citizens at election time, right now, when NPOs want to talk to the Government, the latter doesn’t want to talk to the former.

“In 2015, why didn’t the PNM tell NPOs, 'We are bringing legislation to deal with you, jail your members and impose a $50,000 fine'?”

He said the bill’s remit went far beyond any obligations TT may have under international treaties against terrorist financing.

Ramdeen lamented that the bill would leave the NPO Vision on Mission (which works with ex-prison inmates) without leadership, if it bars from NPO leadership anyone who had served jail time, and marijuana smoking, drunk driving and even the offence of pelting stones all carried sentences of several years which could debar one from heading an NPO.

“Most of these organisations don’t depend on the Government for a cent, out of that $500 million the AG was talking about, and they are the people you choose to go after?”

He asked if that was what the Government had meant by people-centred governance.

Ramdeen challenged the AG’s assertion that the bill put NPOs into two different classes, with only those earning over $10 million due for audit. Saying both types had to register, he scoffed, “So that’s not one size fits all?”

He said the Government’s lack of consultation had shown it was not really interested in small people.

“Good governance will come back (to TT) and the non-profit organisations will have an administration that will get rid of this kind of legislation and will facilitate their growth and development and the good work they do for hundreds and thousands of people in this country. They will have an administration that supports that sector.”