Chairman of the Private Sector Commission (PSC) Edward Boyer on Monday said that the commission will not encourage any form of bullyism from the city council on the controversial container fee.
“I mean they have done a good job after elections and we have to support them in what they do. However, no way would the private sector encourage any form of bullyism. Not under my watch. Any form of bullyism we will object.,.,” he told reporters at the Marriott Hotel.
His comments came after the contentious fee was reduced to $5,000 from $25,000 on an interim basis, following an agreement last Friday between the Mayor and City Council of Georgetown, the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Private Sector Commission.
Discussions and deliberations on the issue concluded with those in attendance proposing that the Council reduces the current $25,000 container fee to $5,000 as an interim measure, Town Clerk Royston King said in a statement. “It will be collected at the source, at the various Ports and Wharves, effective 1st of August, 2016,” the statement said.
Initial attempts by the city to implement the $25,000 fee had resulted in clashes with the business community. In June, King had said that businesses unloading containers in the city were already being charged $25,000.
According to Boyer, the City Council has approached the commission and indicated what it is doing and the operation costs. “City Council came to us and they expressed all that they are doing and the cost of it and we have to be reasonable people. We can’t be people who are just…some of my business people feel if it is not in the law we shouldn’t pay. I sympathise with them, [but] if it is not in the law we shouldn’t pay,” he added.
He also stated that the current agreement is a temporary one. “At the end of the day, you are bringing in goods, you are having a container traverse the street, there is a cost. We want to see how this money will be spent. As you understand, we are talking about an interim…it is not an agreement, it is not something we sign on to.
We are having a committee… one from the city council and one from the private sector and these people are going to be looking at it,” he stated.
Asked if members of the business community, in an effort to avoid paying the proposed container fee, will resort to unloading their containers at the wharf, the PSC chairman said that, “Business people don’t like to pay taxes. They like to avoid taxes. Evasion and avoidance are two different things, so if you look at the cost of de-stuffing as against transporting a container, it is most costly. And who gets it? The wharf people get it, the other people get it. So to de-stuff a container is very costly.”
He added, “The other thing about it is that if you have a shared container that shared container is actually shared by a lot of persons, so, therefore, if you look at a fee it can be split amongst a whole lot of people.”
Meanwhile, in the statement, King had noted that discussions were also held on the possible implementation of a per tonnage cargo fee for all cargo within vehicles of specific weights traversing the streets of Georgetown. It pointed out that the collection of a container fee and tonnage fee are instituted by invoking section 274 (h) in conjunction with section 272 of the Municipal and District Council’s Act.
“The council further advises that the collection of its revenue for container fees is an absolute necessity in order to execute road construction and repairs; drainage works; and other allied capital works such as the construction of bridges, etc.
All of the aforementioned are essential Municipal service that create an enabling environment for businesses and guarantees the safety of citizens and the public health of our local communities,” the statement further said.
