Kaieteur News
Tuesday April 10, 2018
PAGE 09
The pressure is back T
he public are b r a c i n g themselves for difficult times. All indications are that the crisis in the economy will get worse and bring greater pressures on citizens. The reintroduction in Georgetown of parking meters will once again lead to a decline in businesses. Not only will established businesses be affected, but so too will market and pavement vendors.
Parking meters will mean that less people will visit the main commercial districts in the city. Less consumers will mean less sales for businesses and vendors. This will have a ripple effect on employment, since store owners may be forced to lay off workers. It will affect the transportation sector. Less business for buses and taxis. The last time that the parking meters were in force, there was a decline in
sales. The commercial sector s u ff e r e d a d e c l i n e i n business ranging from 3070%. The reintroduction of parking meters can spell doom for the business community, which is already suffering because of the problems in the economy. The Mayor and City Council is presumptions to reintroduce the parking meters, albeit with reduced fees, after there has been such public outrage over the parking meter contract. A
Ramotar gave construction company oil block
N
ABI Oil and Gas Inc, whose parent company is NABI Construction, was able to secure an oil block in the Guyana Basin. The company was given the block less than two years after it was set up in October 2010. By June 2012 President Donald Ramotar and Company Secretary/ Director of Nabi Oil and Gas Inc., Rafael S. Nabi, had already signed an agreement similar to other existing contracts. The company was granted a lease for 2,300 square kilometres onshore in the Mahaica-Mahaicony, East Coast Demerara area. This area is considered part of the Guyana Basin which encompasses both onshore
and offshore. According to the Ministry of Natural Resources, the company's activities are dormant. The Ministry said that during the last quarter of 2013, the company conducted a geochemistry survey and was supposed to be analyzing the data it had gathered, but “the company's activities have been dormant since that time.” The Ministry also released the Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) that was signed in 2012. That agreement did not include a signing bonus. It features a cost-recovery ceiling of 70 per cent pegged on the price of oil being US$100 and above per barrel and 75 per cent should the price fall
below US$100. The remaining 25 per cent or 30 percent portion of profit oil will be split between the contractor and Government on a 50/50 basis if production remains below 50,000 barrels per day. Should it top that level, the production will be shared on a 55/45 in favour of Government. Royalty is one per cent payable from the Government's share of the profits. The PSA also features a Stability Clause similar to those in the ExxonMobil, CGX and Tullow/EcoAtlantic contract. Nabi's contract also features the cheapest annual licence fee when compared to the other contracts. That company has to pay US$10,000 per year.
Dem boys seh...
Guyanese getting de smell of de cheese but Exxon have de factory
W
hen dem boys talk how bad de contract that Guyana sign wid Exxon was, nuff people refuse to listen. Nuff of dem cuss dem boys and seh how dem want tek bread out of people mouth. Dem boys talk bout how Guyana get rob; dem talk bout how Exxon had all de skills to negotiate while Guyana had nobody who could match de oil giant. Then dem boys talk how it strange that while dem criticizing de contract, de Govt was saying nutten and de opposition was saying nutten. De silence mek dem boys believe that both sides tek something that force dem to shut every opening dem got in dem body—dem eye, dem ears, dem two nose hole
dem mouth and of course, yuh know… Every day dem boys talk. Dem see de contract as a lang rope wid a li'l piece of cheese at de end and Guyana was de rat to follow de cheese. When it get de li'l piece of cheese it think it get de world not knowing that at de odda end of de rope was de cheese factory. Now dem boys feel vindicated. A world renown media entity that scrutinize and analyse every major business in de world also criticize de contract. It seh Exxon Mobil Corp. get such a sweetheart deal from Guyana, that de IMF seh Guyana should rewrite dem tax laws. Exxon paying less tax to Guyana than any company wid half that size paying to
Norway, Brazil, Peru and Trinidad and Tobago. Dem got some Guyanese business places who paying more tax than Exxon and dem own just a few acres. Dem boys now know through de same report that Exxon was given 11.5 million acres, equivalent to about 2,000 times what de U.S. got in de Gulf of Mexico. Exxon gun pay Guyana 52 percent of positive cash flow over the life of Exxon's initial project, compared with between 63 percent and 72 percent wha it paying for developments in Liberia, Mauritania, Ghana, Senegal and Papua New Guinea. Talk half and do de Maths to wuk out de deal wha Soulja Bai and ee team sign.
legal challenge to the contract has not yet been determined by the Court, but this has not dampened the enthusiasm of the Council in reintroducing parking meters. The Council can get away with this action because those who voted in favour of the reintroduction of parking meters know that come local government elections later this year, the majority of the citizens of Georgetown will vote along political lines, and this guarantees these councilors reelection. The protests over the parking meters are likely to resume. But already some parents are already on the picket line, protesting another issue. A small group of parents are protesting the hike in student fees at a private school. While all parents will feel the pressure from the increases in fees, only six of them took to the picket line to protest the increase. The other parents have not shown any solidarity with those on the picket line. But that is the story of Guyana. Only a handful of people come forward to take a stand. There is some confusion within the media about the increase in fees. The school has explained that it was forced to increase its fees to meet increased costs. This could well be a valid reason
if it is established that school fees have not been increased for years. No one should expect the school to be carrying increased costs, including higher salaries for teachers, without having to raise fees. Fees are the principal source of the school's revenues. If fees have not increased for years, then a significant increase may be justified. Some media houses have pointed out that the increases come after the government would have revoked the value added tax of 14% on education which was imposed in 2017. However, the removal of the VAT does not nullify the need for an increase. The VAT is a tax which has to be remitted to the government. The removal of the VAT does not provide extra revenues to the school. It does not reduce the costs of the school. The increase could also be a function of demand and supply. It could be that more students are applying for the school than it can accommodate, and therefore as with the law of demand and supply, the higher the demand, the higher the price. Costs are increasing. Prices are increasing in the economy. There is no reason to believe that the school is not being affected by these higher costs in the economy. Two weeks ago, the cambios were buying US$1
at G$210 and reselling at G$213. This represents a depreciation of the Guyana dollar and it will result in higher import prices. The parents of that school are no doubt concerned about the size of the increase in fees, but they should try to appreciate that the school is also facing pressures of higher prices and increased demands for higher wages, and have to find a way of meeting these demands. These are tough times. The economy is fizzling. The economy is not healthy. All the major sectors, except for gold, are struggling. The unemployment rate remains high. Five thousand sugar workers are on the breadline. The rural economy is grinding to a halt. The increase in vending is a sign of the pressures facing citizens. People are hustling for a dollar. They are selling whatever they feel they can to bring in a buck. When the fastest growing business is the selling of dog food, you know that the economy is heading for the doghouse. Brace yourself for pressure!
Chinese businessman charged with receiving $8M worth in stolen foodstuff
A
Chinese national who is the proprietor of Convenient Supermarket, located on Durban Street, Georgetown, was yesterday charged for receiving $8M worth in stolen foodstuff. Xin Lin, 29 of Lot 3 Durban Street, Georgetown, appeared before Principal Magistrate Judy Latchman in the Georgetown Magistrates' Courts. Lin denied the allegation which alleged that between July 1, 2017 and April 6, 2018 at Durban Street, Georgetown, he received a quantity of food stuff valued $8 M, knowing same to have been feloniously stolen or unlawfully obtained, property of Toucan Distributors. Attorney-at-Law Nekeisha Persaud asked that bail be granted to her client in a reasonable amount. Police Prosecutor, Arvin Moore told the court that Lin and Toucan Distributors are business partners. Facts stated that on the day in question police acting on information went to Lin's business place where they conducted a search and found a quantity of stolen foodstuff. Lin was then arrested and taken into custody. The Magistrate after listening to the facts granted bail in the sum of $250,000 to the defendant.
Charged Xin Lin The father of two was instructed to make his next court appearance on April 30 for statements.