Five bills for House

No government motions are listed for debate on the parliamentary Order Paper for Friday when the House of Representatives sits from 1.30 pm, but five bills will come up for second reading. These include an Act to ammend the Firearms Act, an Act to amend the Trinidad and Tobago Postal Corporation Act 1999, an Act to amend the National Lotteries Act, an Act to amend the Extradition (Commonwealth and Foreign Territories) Act 1985 and an Act respecting the safety, health and welfare of persons at work. The only new item on the Order Paper is the laying of the National Housing Authority Vesting Bill 2003 by Housing Minister Martin Joseph.

The atmosphere was heated in the Lower House last Friday, when the Opposition UNC protested the Government’s move to send the Integrity Act’s Regulations and Prescribed Forms to a parliamentary joint select committee for scrutiny instead of adopting them. In explaining the Government’s action, Legal Affairs Minister Camille Robinson-Regis said because the information in the forms would be so far reaching it was important that Members of Parliament carefully examine the content of the subsidiary legislation very carefully.