Business and commerce key focus of govt legislative agenda

Atop the government’s legislative agenda when a new session of Parliament convenes is removing specific impediments impacting the business community and commerce, Attorney General Ryan Pinder said yesterday.

In just about one week, the official opening of Parliament will take place with the governor general reading the Speech from the Throne laying out the government’s legislative agenda.

“This morning, I sent my recommendations to the Cabinet Office on what should be included from within my portfolio in the Speech from the Throne. As you would know, the Speech from the Throne lays out the mandate of the government,” Pinder said just before the weekly Cabinet meeting yesterday.

“Certainly, a key focus of our government is going to be to facilitate commerce and business and remove impediments and bureaucracies in that fashion. We have had consultations with the business community and industry groups to look to advance that.”

Regarding the administration of justice, Pinder said the government would like to make some revisions to how the courts and the justice system are conducted.

“We don’t believe that Bahamians should be held in limbo when they’re being prosecuted for an extended period of time and we look to address that in a rather expeditious way, and I know some of the other ministries in terms of advancing the country from a commercial point of view have some suggestions on legislative amendments,” he said.

“I would not want to pre-empt the prime minister nor the governor general on the Speech from the Throne, so we will be finalizing that and you will be hearing them at the opening of Parliament.”

The last Minnis administration left much of its legislative agenda abandoned in its final year in office, never tabling the promised Medicinal Marijuana Bill; the Campaign Finance Bill; the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Bill; or a Medical Emergencies Bill which would have replaced the emergency orders that the country has been under for more than 17 months now.

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