Acting Chief Justice Roxane George-Wiltshire SC has ordered the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) and Guyana Energy Agency (GEA) to pay Atlantic Fuels Inc (AFI) $12.8 million to cover storage cost for the 635,353 liters of diesel fuel it had seized and detained last year.
Last month the Chief Justice had ruled that the GRA and GEA acted illegally in prohibiting clearance for the importation of the fuel, thus ordering the two government agencies to immediately release the fuel.
AFI’s attorney Siand Dhurjon said that during a hearing on Monday for assessment of damages, Justice George-Wiltshire said that GRA’s Commissioner General Godfrey Statia, and Chief Executive Officer of GEA Mahender Sharma, are both liable for the storage cost to the tune of $12,825,000. The Chief Judge ordered AFI’s main director Dr. Richard Van West-Charles to be paid the sum no later than March 29th, 2021; while noting that the Revenue Authority and Energy Agency will incur a further debt of $113,500 for every additional day it continues to detain the fuel.