Dear Editor,
When Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo had his first meeting with President David Granger, who was accompanied by several ministers of the government, he offered the PPP/C’s assistance on many of the outstanding cases the government had in the courts.
Mr Jagdeo promised former Attorney-General Anil Nandlall’s availability in assisting with background information to assist these court cases, due to the fact that billions of dollars was at stake for the taxpayers of our country.
The APNU+AFC regime has never seen it fit to accept Mr Jagdeo’s (and the PPP/C) offer.
Instead, they have chosen another route. The media earlier this week reported that a court settlement has been reached reducing the taxes owed to the government by the Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) from $5.3B (what the Guyana Revenue Authority had claimed they owed in 2009) to $1.5B. This figure, however, is not the total. DDL owed another $5B between 2006-2014. In fact, with interest, DDL would have owed the government almost $15B. This latest settlement then is a huge tax write off.
But this is not the end of the matter. The cost to taxpayers could mount even higher. This relates to Banks DIH.
Both DDL and Banks DIH had to pay the same type of taxes. The fact that the GRA did not take Banks DIH to court implies that the company was complying with the laws and paying their taxes.
Now that the government has written off those taxes for DDL, it means that now it must refund Banks DIH its taxes.
If not, this would be discrimination and unfair competition.
Moreover, this is but the latest revelations of similar tax write offs, which have been going on for a while. Cases are being settled for billions of dollars.
Earlier media reports spoke about the Haags Bosch landfill project and the Guyana Power & Light’s (GPL) Vreed-en-Hoop installation site. Both of these projects involved billions of dollars and they were settled in BK’s favour.
The list is long and will continue to grow.
We have the Guyana Stores and other outstanding cases; and then there are those that are being settled in the dark.
What is worrying is the philosophy of the regime. This government from the beginning made no secret of its attitude to those who contributed to their campaign. They are ready to treat them in a special way.
Recall that Minister Trotman said that those business people have a right to a return for their investment in the APNU and AFC.
Note, too, that Minister Harmon expressed a similar position in defending his appointment of Brian Tiwarie as Advisor on Business. He stated that the government is helping those who helped them during the elections campaign, adding that many other ministers did and were doing the same.
Indeed, millions are being given to those persons in the diaspora who assisted them during the elections campaign. They are providing superfluous jobs.
The fertiliser contract scandal is another case in point. The individual identified in this scenario has close links to the AFC.
The regime has also sole-sourced huge contracts for medical supplies to their friends.
Now that their position is clear, many corrupt persons are seeking to cash in. Some are accepting the demands from APNU+AFC officials to donate to the D’urban Park development project. In so doing, it is clear that they, too, will expect huge windfalls in the future when they cash in their chips.
Yes, we are once again in the era of the PNC government when bribery and corruption were the order of the day.
Yours faithfully,
Donald Ramotar
