The Private Sector Com-mission (PSC) yesterday rejected a statement by the Chairman of Ramps Logistics that “dark forces” in the business body wanted him out of Guyana.
Ramps – whose parent company is Trinidadian – has been engaged in a battle for Local Content Certification so that it could benefit maximally from oil and gas contracts. It says that it has met all requirements and should not have been denied by the Local Content Secretariat (LCS). Ramps has since lodged a judicial review case against the LCS. It has also recently been charged by the Guyana Revenue Authority with 10 counts of false declaration. Ramps has however said that the charges are null and void and it pointed out that the court action had come just days after it had sought judicial review over the conduct of the LCS.
In a statement yesterday, the PSC said: “We have noted with considerable concern, a statement made by the Chairman of Ramps Logistics Guyana, Mr. Shaun Rampersaud, published in the Stabroek News on 23rd October, 2022, with regard to the Guyanese Private Sector on the subject of our country’s Local Content Policy which has no basis in fact nor reality, which, to say the least, is totally misguided and completely out of place.
“The challenges facing Ramps Logistics have no linkage to the local Private Sector. The Private Sector is obliged to comply with the Laws of Guyana and has no control over the Local Content Secretariat, the Guyana Revenue Authority, or any other compliance agency with regards to meeting the Local Content requirements to operate in Guyana’s oil sector”.
It added that the PSC has been welcoming to investors from CARICOM member countries and further afield.
“In fact, the Commission and its members have hosted Trade Missions from Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and the United States among others. We are open to meeting with any Private Sector company to foster business growth and national development.
“Indeed, it is the Private Sector which advocated and fought for the Local Content legislation to protect the interest of local businesses, but we are also cognizant that we do not currently possess all the skills and resources our country requires. We shall continue to advocate for partnership and joint ventures from all investors and countries interested in doing business and the development of Guyana while adhering to the Laws of Guyana”, the PSC stated.
In an interview with the Trinidad Guardian newspaper, Rampersad said he believes that “dark forces” in the Guyanese private sector want him out of the country.
“I think Guyana is a lovely place and there is enlightened leadership with the present Government of Irfaan Ali. But there are powerful dark forces in the private sector. I suspect what we are going through has to do with elements of the Guyanese private sector who have for a long time controlled the Guyanese business economy, and they don’t want us in Guyana. I want investors to know there are great opportunities in Guyana, but they have to be careful,” he told the Guardian.
He said he is confident that he will be cleared of all charges that have been filed against him in Guyana.
“We will be cleared of the charges as they are bogus. Are they going to put the lives of more than 400 employees in Guyana on the breadline? I flew to Guyana, so I could go to court and defend myself.”
The company which has been in Guyana since 2013 provides logistics services in Guyana and to meet Guyanese local content criteria to operate here the company had to be 51 per cent Guyanese owned.
Rampersad added that in June they were denied a local content certificate by the Guyanese Local Content Secretariat to operate here, and it meant that by the end of 2022 if they do not have a certificate, they would not be able to provide services to oil and gas companies.
“The reason why we were denied the certificate was because it was more administrative. They wanted certain documents. Everything that they asked for, we gave it to them in July. We wrote to them in August, and they said they have lots of applications, so they will get to ours. By September, we wrote again. Then by September 30, we filed an application for Judicial Review, and we said we’ve been constructively refused because the Local Content Secretariat is trying to drag the process on, and they know the more business we will lose”, he told the Guardian.
