President Irfaan Ali met with members of the Rupununi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) on Saturday afternoon and disclosed that legislation for a free zone in the area is in the works.
According to a statement yesterday from the Office of the President, the Head of State, who was in Lethem for the Regional Toshaos Meeting, said that his Government is aware of the desire to have parts of Lethem as a free zone.
“The declaration of areas as designated areas here in Region Nine, Lethem, as a free zone—was a major issue that was raised. What I can say to you is that we are presently drafting the legislation. I received some options from the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), and the Attorney General is doing the draft legislation”, he said.
The release said that the Lethem businesspersons also raised issues about poor infrastructural work being done in the area and suggested that a committee should be established to monitor future infrastructural works.
As a result, President Ali, on the spot, asked the group to nominate a representative and instructed the Minister within the Ministry of Public Works, Deodat Indar, to form a monitoring committee and ensure that the representative be included.
