AG slams opposition: Read the bill!

Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi accused opposition members of being uninformed during their contributions to a debate on the Miscellaneous Provisions Bill and called on them to do more extensive reading of the bill before coming to Parliament.

Al-Rawi made the remarks during the debate in Tuesday's Lower House sitting, in which he criticised Oropouche West MP Vidia Gayadeen-Gopeesingh for overlooking important clauses.

Referring to concerns she raised that the legal principle of part-performance would not be kept with the amendments, Al-Rawi expressed frustration over the apparent lack of understanding on the opposition bench.

"I feel a little shame, you're asking about part-performance. Part-performance is expressly preserved in the Conveyancing and Law of Property Act amendments in clause five.

"Jeezanages, read the bill! How can you come to this Parliament and pretend that you have read the bill?

"Worse yet, there is no provision in this bill where the Registrar General is exercising quasi-judicial functions, I went and I looked, I had to pinch myself and ask myself what was my honourable colleague referring to."

Responding to concerns that the amendments would make doing business more cumbersome due to additional bureaucracy by leaving the Board of Inland Revenue as the sole authority behind the regulation of land transactions, Al-Rawi said the bill was necessary to cut down on corruption in the public service.

"How has that been working for TT? Is anyone in this country satisfied that the corruption allegations at the Board of Inland Revenue and elsewhere have been working well for us?

"The land law system in TT is archaic and it is not acceptable that we are using the English law of 1925, where there is a rampant criminality in what I call top-drawer deeds. Why should deeds stay in a top drawer? Can you mortgage the property if it is unregistered? No."

Al-Rawi closed his contribution by questioning why Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar, who was the only senior counsel on the opposition bench, was absent from the debate.

The Lower House was adjourned to June 24.