Govt, Opposition stand their ground

Finance Minister Colm Imbert yesterday said, “I am waiting patiently for the Opposition to send us their list of proposed amendments to the FATCA Bill.

They have failed to do this for the last three months.” He continued, “That is only common sense and it is a mystery as to why three months after we first introduced the FATCA Bill in Parliament, the Opposition is still unwilling or unable to provide us with a list of amendments.” He added, “The Government is willing to accommodate any reasonable amendments but we need to know what they have in mind first.” In response, Opposition Chief Whip David Lee maintained the Opposition’s call for the Bill to be sent to a joint select committee (JSC) and dismissed criticisms of its decision to blank the debate.

Describing the actions of the Government in the committee stage of the House as “gamesmanship”, Lee said the amendments made to the Bill were not all-encompassing.

He added that Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar had released copies of the amendments from the Opposition following a news conference at the Parliament building on Monday, before the House sat.

Insisting there was enough time for a JSC to sit and deliberate on the Bill, Lee said critics of the Opposition’s actions should ask the Government why it does not want the Bill to go to a JSC and why “the sky has not fallen,” with September 30, 2017, being the new date for TT to be FATCA compliant.

Responding to Lee, Imbert asked, “What is so mysterious that they want to discuss it in secret instead of on the Parliament floor?”