The Guyana government has provided $14.8 million in the 2010 Budget to allow for the establishment of the secretariat while in 2009 the commissioners secured a $143 million grant from the Caribbean Development Bank’s CART Fund programme to provide expert advice and technical capacity building to the commission, its secretariat and the judiciary.
Meanwhile, the commissioners have said that the commission is open for business and ready to receive complaints on unfair trading practices.
According to the release, any individual, entity, organization or association may make a complaint to the commission where they believe that they have been treated unfairly in the market place, and the commission will endeavour to investigate the matter in relation to the Competition and Fair Trading Act (2006).
The commissioners of the Competition Commission represent four broad stakeholder groups: the private sector, the public sector, the legal profession and consumer representation bodies.
The chairman of the commission is Ramesh Dookhoo from the Private Sector and the other three commissioners are Patrick Dial, representing consumers, Adrian Anamayah from the legal profession and Keith Burrowes from the public sector.
Complaints to the commission must be received in writing and addressed to the Chairman of the Commission, Ramesh Dookhoo, c/o its temporary secretariat – The National Competitiveness Strategy Unit, Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce.
However, when the Sophia office becomes operational the official address of the Commission will be: Competition Commission, National Exhibition Centre, Sophia, Georgetown.
Following Guyana’s efforts to improve competition and fair trading both nationally and internationally, the Guyana government enacted the Competition and Fair Trading Act in 2006 to govern matters of this nature. This Act seeks to promote, maintain and encourage competition and to prohibit the prevention, restriction or distortion of competition and the abuse of dominant positions in trade; promote the welfare and interests of consumers and to establish a Competition Commission for related matters.
Competition law, the release noted, aims to ensure a healthy degree of competition by preventing firms from engaging in strategies to limit competition. And it is one of the key measures needed to support the proper functioning of markets in the fullest sense. It is the primary means of addressing a major form of market failure – the detrimental exercise of market power.
The proper understanding and implementation of competition law is the foundation for market expansion, especially as businesses seek to compete in international markets, the release added.
