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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday, January 28, 2019
Hundreds turn out to IDPADA conference
THE International Decade for People of African Descent Assembly -Guyana (IDPADA-G), on Sunday held its “One Stop Business and Family Welfare Conference” at Dolphin Secondary School, Broad Street, Charlestown, to which hundreds turned out to be empowered. The event started at 1:00pm targeting hundreds of residents of Georgetown, particularly those within the southern section of the city. Various government
agencies were on hand to provide information, free services such as health care and housing assistance. The Small Business Bureau, Central Housing and Planning Authority, Ministry of Citizenship (passport and birth certificates), Ministries of Public Health, Education, Social Protection, and New Guyana Marketing Corporation among other agencies, all had a presence at the event on Sunday. Chief Executive Officer of IDPADA-G, Olive
Sampson, told the Guyana Chronicle that the event was made possible through the collaboration of all African agencies, at the request of President David Granger, in response to the United Nations (UN) mandate to confront the serious problems facing people of African descent everywhere in the world, where they are oppressed and marginalised. She added that the conference aims to bring government services directly to the people, and to also
CH&PA employees interact with visitors
find out from them through a health survey, what they are facing with respect to access to health care by providers. Sampson pointed out that they have partnered with the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO). She pointed out that last year 35 conferences were held all across Guyana and that they will replicate that number and even double it this year. Conference Coordinator of IDPADA-G Shequanda David, told the Guyana Chronicle that the event is a spin-off of conferences held before last year, and from those they added the family welfare feature to provide free health care to people. Many of the visitors told this newspaper that they are very pleased with the reception they got, and more so happy they benefitted from much-needed free health services and information without any hassle.
The International Decade for People of African Descent, 2015-2024, was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in a Resolution (68/237) adopted on December 23, 2013. The theme of the International Decade is “People of African descent: Recognition, Justice and Development”. The stated objectives of the International Decade for People of African Descent are to promote respect, protection and fulfilment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms for people of African descent, as recognised in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; promote a greater knowledge of and respect for the diverse heritage, culture and contributions of people of African descent to the development of societies; adopt and strengthen national, regional and international legal frameworks according to the Durban Decla-
Olive Sampson CEO of IDPADA-G ration and Programme of Action and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and to ensure their full and effective implementation.
Citizens Bank objects to GRA’s assessment amounting to $500M owed CITIZENS Bank has objected to the Notices of Assessment (NoA) issued by the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) claiming additional corporation taxes of $534, 416,000. The issuance was made on December 20, 2018, by the revenue authority on the basis of a disallowance of the company’s claim for deduction for impairment losses on financial assets in relation to the years of income ended 30 September 2010 to 2012. However, Director of BANKS DIH Limited, Clifford Reis, at the company’s Annual General Meeting on Saturday, said that the bank, which is a 51 per cent owned subsidiary of BANKS DIH, is currently ironing out the issue with the GRA. “The first step in any programme is not fireworks,” he said. “We wrote them back and said we don’t agree and that was called an objection. So far we’re still having dialogue to see where we go; where we don’t go and see if we can solve the problem between us,” Reis said. Citizens Bank maintains that it had adhered to its obligations contained in the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and the Supervision Guidelines issued by the Bank of Guyana. “For purposes of its corporation tax computations, the company’s impairment losses on financial assets as determined under IFRS, were claimed as deductions in accordance with Sections 16 (1) (e) of the Income Tax Act, which provides for the deduction of provisions for bad and doubtful debts incurred in a trade or business,” the statement said, adding:
“As [a] consequence, the company is not in agreement with the assessment raised by the Guyana Revenue Authority and intends to file objections, as provided for under the Income Tax Act.” Reis told reporters that Citizens Bank is not alone when it comes to the matter as other banks are also in the same position. “It’s not Citizens Bank alone, it’s all the banks. All the commercial banks in Guyana received an assessment,” he said. “And I’m surprised that some of the other banks that have not notified their shareholders.” However, he did note that some of the other banks had completed their annual general meetings prior to receiving the notice. As such, Reis added: “Those who are coming up now with their Annual General Meetings, I hope that they will make such representations.” For 2018, the Bank recorded $602.3M in after-tax profit for the performance period ended September 30, 2018. As to why he placed importance on disclosing the current challenge, the Director said that it was done out of consideration for the bank’s stakeholders. “Being a material number of $500M, it is my right, as the Chairman, to tell the shareholders about it because we don’t want them to be surprised one morning when they wake up to see a liability of $500M,” he explained, continuing: “But I think we [along with the GRA] will solve the problem. I don’t think it will go beyond this dialogue.”