Valley: No UNC legal drafters

TRADE MINISTER Ken Valley said the reason why the UNC passed so many bad laws during their time in Government was because they had “no proper legal drafters.”

Speaking during the Budget debate in the House of Representatives yesterday, Valley slammed Siparia MP Kamla Persad-Bissessar for consistently reiterating claims about the Government having no legislative agenda. The Minister revealed that in its final full year in Government (1999-2000) the UNC passed 100 pieces of legislation but its PNM successor has since had to redraft 94 of them because they were badly flawed. He added that while other regional parliaments had qualified legal drafters, the UNC never sought to hire any during its six years in office. Valley said while the UNC brought 14 pieces of legislation to Parliament from January to October 2001, the PNM brought 26 pieces of legislation in the just concluded first session of the eighth Parliament. He explained that the absence of qualified legal drafters was the main keepback to Government’s legislative programme. “Drafting is the bottleneck. The policy papers are there,” Valley declared. He added that Government is taking steps to correct these deficiencies.

The Minister said Tidco has been told “to get out of road-paving” and back to the business of marketing Trinidad and Tobago to potential investors. Reiterating confidence that TT will become the site of Free Trade Areas of the Americas Secretariat, Valley said one of Government’s goals will be to encourage FTAA nations to invest in markets in Association of Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) nations.  The Minister slammed the UNC for trying to close down the Exim Bank and deny manufacturers the means to compete in the emerging markets of the FTAA. Valley dismissed UNC claims of an imminent devaluation of the local currency and expressed the view that the population will be as happy with the proposed Wallerfield Industrial Estate as they are with the Point Lisas Industrial Estate. Valley also spoke about increased employment since the PNM returned to Government and dismissed critics of Vision 2020. “We know where we are going. It is not unachievable,” he declared.