Saying that it is owed over $100 million in taxes, the City Council has moved to freeze Houston Estates’ sale of 52 acres of land to Redstart Investments, which owns Unicomer and similar businesses in Trinidad, the British Virgin Islands and Belize.
But Redstart Investments, according to the council, says that its deal with Houston Estates should not be affected by a debt that isn’t the company’s and recently notified City Hall that it would in turn move to the courts to have their injunction removed.
“The bottom line is that Houston Estates owes the council in excess of $100 million for a plot of land that they are actually selling for in excess of $1 billion. They can afford to take care of their responsibilities and we are hoping they do so,” acting Town Clerk Sherry Jerrick told a City Hall statutory meeting on Monday.
“It is not only $1 billion. The total sales is over $5 billion. We are just asking for our two cents, so to speak. It [monies owed by Houston Estates] accumulates to over $300 million, nearly $400 million when you add interest,” Mayor Ubraj Narine added.
Stabroek News reached out to Houston Estates executive Michael Vieira but was told to return a call today.
Redstart has said that it would not discuss the matter until the legal sale and processes are completed.
In October, Stabroek News reported that Redstart was looking to purchase just over 52 acres of land in the Houston/Rome area, where a number of oil and gas companies are currently developing.
It was from that news article that the Mayor said the council learned of the pending sale and knowing it had outstanding tax matters with Houston Estates, it decided to “pull the company’s file” and confirmed that $144,272,228 in taxes was owed and no move was being made to settle.
For the mayor, it is unreasonable that the company would quibble to pay City Hall its due when has secured a multi-billion dollar sale.
He said the council had reached out ad nauseam to Houston Estates’ management to have discussions on their outstanding debt to City Hall and look at ways of payments.
However, the company kept snubbing all requests, prompting the move to the court.
“I encourage the company to meet with us so that it can be resolved. The Town Clerk is ready to meet with them so that we can have a smooth flowing of business between the council and Houston Estates,” he further urged.
Narine said that to compound matters, the company that Houston Estates is selling to wrote to City Hall informing it that they will also be going to court to block the injunction on the sale because their own bank financing for the purchase is being stalled by the legal proceedings.
Following that notice, City Hall sought legal advice and is currently engaging its legal advisors on the way forward.
“Redstart informed that they are filing an injunction to purchase the land because they are not a party to the City Hall and Vieira issue. They wanted to have our application set aside and to have their order so that they can be able to get their mortgage at the bank. That is a matter we are having legal advice and legal representation on,” the acting Town Clerk explained.
A notice in the Official Gazette from Houston Estates had informed of the sale.
“Transport of Area “SR4”, a portion of Plantation Rome (South Section), in the city of Georgetown, in the country of Demerara…the said Areas SR4 containing an area 52.5774 acres being shown on a plan by E.[Enrique] G Monize, Sworn Land Surveyor dated the 10th day of January, 2019 and recorded at the Department of Lands and Surveys on the 25th day of February, 2019 as plan No.71468 and deposited in the Deeds Registry of Georgetown on the 5th day of April, 2019, no building and erections thereon and subject to the following conditions: The said plot of land is for residential, commercial and industrial purposes to Redstart Investments Guyana Inc., a company duly incorporated in Guyana under the Companies Act of Guyana, 1991, whose registered address is situated at Lots 25-25 Main Street Georgetown, Guyana,” the notice states.
Most of the land in the Houston/Rome area is owned by the Vieira family and had once been sugar estates.
Currently, most of what once the Houston Estate Canal, where airboats and estate punts once traversed, have been filled up and only a small section of the waterway remains. It is unclear what drainage systems are in place for the area.
