Contending that the former PPP/C government had a great track record of facilitating investments, Leader of the Opposition Bharrat Jagdeo said on Thursday that though he has no knowledge of applications made by Baron Foods for a business here, it is clear the owner was looking for special treatment because of his ties with Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan.
“So when the current head of Go-Invest (Owen Verwey) says we are getting pressure from the top to process this application but we can’t give him all he wanted…it tells you something that he is looking for special treatment…in Guyana because he knows people at the top so his whole excuse (is) about `oh he didn’t get through under the PPP because Ramjattan is his family’”, Jagdeo said during a press conference held at his Church Street Office.
Verwey at a Go-Invest press conference on Monday had said: ““What I can tell you is back in August – September 2016 that specific investor was referred to our agency with a lot of support because he came from the top down to us. He made demands that can’t be met from the legal framework that is currently in place”. Verwey noted that neither he nor the Commissioner General of the Guyana Revenue Authority nor the Minister of Finance could meet these particular demands.