Even as the government announced a limited package of measures in last week Monday’s budget presentation aimed at bringing a measure of relief to a gold-mining sector struggling under the weight of continually falling prices on the global market, the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) has said that it is unsure as to whether the measures announced in the budget will relieve the strain on the sector.
Finance Minister Winston Jordan in his 2015 Budget Presentation announced some of the long-awaited concessions to the mining sector including exemptions for “eligible gold miners” from customs duties payments on a number of essential mining supplies including fuel, matting, jack hammer drills, pumps, pump housing hoses, expanding metals and engines. Jordan said that government will be entering into a new agreement with the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) and the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA) to give effect to the grant of these tax waivers.
In a statement issued late last week, the GCCI called for a more conclusive resolution of the issues affecting the future of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) sooner rather than later. It expressed skepticism regarding the extent of the relief, if any, that the measures announced in the budget would bring to the sugar industry. The government has committed some $12B to GuySuCo for 2015.
“We are still not certain if this will completely solve the problems of the industry since the price of the commodity continues to decline,” the statement said, while expressing the view “that efforts continue to be made to produce gold more efficiently.”
The GCCI, in its statement, confined itself to what it described as “initial observations” which addresses, primarily, issues in the ICT, sugar, rice and education sectors.
The Chamber’s comments on the ICT sector note that while the government “has committed to the enacting legislation for e-commerce/e-transactions, the recognition of electronic signatures for document certification and data protections,” it, (the GCCI) “would have also wished for the definitive commitment on the modernization of our intellectual legislation” though it hopes that this will be “a part of the overall process” and that legislation to that effect will be enacted “way before 2020.”
The Chamber, in its statement has also expressed its support for the distribution of laptops “to educators, students, institutions and community based organization,” a development which it says will address “the issue of not enough students having access to tools critical to their education and development.” At the same time, the Chamber lauded the announcement of the creation of an Information Technology School of Excellence, urging that the institution is “positioned carefully, taking into consideration the critical role the University of Guyana plays via its Department of Computer Studies.”
