Prime Minister Dr Derick Sikua has boasted in parliament over his government’s efforts in bringing many bills to parliament.
Dr Sikua made the comments when he moved the Sine Die Motion on Wednesday last week.
“The CNURA Government has an ambitious legislative reform programme. We expect to set the record as the Government that brings the most bills to Parliament in a short period of time in office,” he said.
He said that was not just to set a record, but to quickly attend to neglected aspects of old legislation and introduce very new and necessary ones.
“At times, my Ministers were accused by the opposition of non performance, yet they have brought an unprecedented record of bills to Parliament and Parliament has approved these.
“I dedicate the outcomes of these bills to the betterment of our people and nation SI,” the Prime Minister said.
He said the bills are important policy initiatives in redirecting our destiny as a nation.
The bills agreed upon and passed during the meeting include:
· Traffic (Amendment) bill, which seeks to put in place some regulatory measures for our transport owners and users,
- Evidence bill which would enable the judiciary to efficiently and effectively dispense with their role of administration of justice in court,
- Foreign Investment (amendment and validation) bill which seeks to amend certain provisions of the principal Act and to introduce an administrative penalty system giving powers to the Director of the FIB,
- Counter-Terrorism bill which aims to put in place strong mechanisms to prevent and suppress acts of terrorism, terrorist groups and their related activities. It is also intended to prevent money laundering and to protect our legal and financial institutions,
- Penalties Miscellaneous bill which seeks to update penalties under the various Acts of parliament and
- The Constitution (Amendment-No 2) which bill calls for an increase in the number of constituencies from 50 to 70.
Also passed were other important bills such as the Currency declaration Act, Supplementary Appropriation Act, Criminal Procedure Code Amendment Act, Customs Valuation Act and Telecommunications Act.
Parliament had also passed three other pieces of important bills namely: FIA Act, 2009 Supplementary Appropriation Act No.2 and 2010 Appropriation Act 2009.
The Prime Minister said the political reform bills will go before the scrutiny of a parliamentary special select committee.
“We therefore would like to see that committee appointed quickly, so that it has adequate time to carry out its mandate and report to Cabinet in early February 2010. We are concerned and would like to bring some order into our politics by 2010 elections.”
By EDNAL PALMER
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