12 news Govt to negotiate final payments Govt channels to TCL, Rudisa – Harmon US$100,000 into Iwokrama M thursday, july 2, 2015 | guyanatimesGY.com
inister of State Joseph Harmon, has declared that the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government is prepared to pay the two companies but is hoping to negotiate a reduction in the sums of money awarded by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ). Guyana has been ordered to pay Trinidad and Tobago Cement Limited (TCL) the sum of TT$2,599,971 (G$84,918,799 million), which includes a sum for Guyana being in contempt of the court. Another sum amounting to US$6.5 million (G$1.2 billion) was awarded to Surinamese company Rudisa Berverages and Juices Limited. Speaking at the postCabinet briefing on Wednesday, Harmon posited that Cabinet was briefed on the Court’s judgement and has made it clear that as a law abiding country, the judgement of the Court has to be respected. “These sums of money are due to be paid to the companies and Cabinet has taken the position that it will honour these commitments, however, in the spirit of our accepting this responsibility, Cabinet has advised the honourable Minister of Legal Affairs to seek to enter into negotiations with these companies with a view to finding out whether they will be prepared to accept a smaller sum as a final settlement in these matters,” he disclosed. On another note, Harmon defended the APNU/AFC decision as the combined Opposition in the 10th Parliament not to pass the Environmental Tax Bill presented by the former
Minister of State Joseph Harmon
People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) in the 10th Parliament. In May 2014, the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) handed down a ruling, awarding some $1.2 billion to Surinamese Company Rudisa, as compensation for environmental tax that was charged on its beverage products imported in Guyana. On Wednesday, Harmon pointed out that the judgement is for Guyana’s violation of commitments made under the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas and not because the then APNU/ AFC Opposition voted down the legislation as is being claimed by former Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister, Anil Nandlall. Earlier this week, Nandlall lashed out at current Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Basil Williams, for acting like Guyana’s debt to the Rudisa Beverage Company of Suriname is a novel discovery, laying the blame for the decision at the feet of the then Opposition.
“It boggles the mind that the Attorney General made this ‘discovery’ by chance when I repeatedly and ad nauseum made this information public, both when the judgement was awarded, as well as on numerable times thereafter. On almost every occasion that I spoke on this matter, I explained why, and on what basis this judgement was granted,” Nandlall had told Guyana Times. In response to this, Harmon at this week’s postCabinet briefing stated that Guyana is in contempt of court hence it was ordered that the sum of money be paid. He further mentioned that his research reveals that the former PPP/C Cabinet would have approved the sums of money to be paid on the tax. “So it’s not about Mr Nandlall challenging Attorney General Basil Williams on who is right and who is wrong. The records are there, the records of the CCJ and the records of the previous Administration. We have to show that we respect the law, we to show that if this is the court of final jurisdiction that we respect it. Once you subscribe to the jurisdiction of the court then you have to abide by its judgement,” he declared. Furthermore, Harmon explained that the PPP/C had filed a piece of legislation as Environmental Tax that sought to, rather than removing the “obnoxious” imposition of a container tax, create additional taxes on other companies so that level the situation. He noted that is what they had objected to and refused to pass the Bill. “We said if you wanted to have an environmental
tax then in the first place, the tax should be directed to the purposes connected to the environment. It must not just go into a lump sum and then utiltise it for everything else that you want to use. It was meant for issues relating to the environment,” the Minister of State remarked. Secondly, Harmon outlined that there were no distinctions between containers that are biodegradable and those which were not. Therefore, he added, if you are introducing an Environmental Tax then the environment should benefit from that tax. According to the Minister of State, these issues were raised with the then Government. In addition, he said that they also raised the fact that billions of dollars were already collected from the tax but were never applied to anything that has to do with the environment. He recalled that when the tax was first introduced, a separate account was supposed to be created so that the money derived from the tax would go for the benefit of the environment. This, he noted, was the commitment the Finance Minister at that time, Asgar Ally. Harmon went onto say that the matter was even argued vigorously in the National Assembly and the People’s National Congress (PNC) representative at that time had pointed out to the PPP/C Government that if they insisted on applying this tax and the way in which they wanted to do it, then they would breach the Caribbean Community (Caricom) treaty obligations. “He (Ally) insisted on doing it and that was the result,” Harmon posited.
Giftland Mall opens doors today!
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inally, the much anticipated Giftland OfficeMax world-class shopping plaza will be officially opening its doors today with a ribbon cutting ceremony at its Pattensen, East Coast Demerara (ECD) location around 17:00h. Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo is slated to be the feature speaker at the grand opening ceremony which is expected to have hundreds of businessmen and Government officials in attendance. The mall will then be opened to the public on Friday 3. However, all the exciting amenities that were in the lineup to be featured will not yet be made available to the public. In fact, the mall will be opening in phases, beginning with the state-of-theart movie theatres, four popular restaurants, and the Giftland superstore, including the gift store “Giftronics”, the sports store “Sportsmax” and all the other departments. There will also be a Republic Bank ATM machine available for customer convenience. Thereon, the full blown entertainment complex will take shape as more restaurants and stores progressively open up. The video arcade and entertainment strip, comprising fine dining res-
A section of the Giftland Mall during the construction phase
taurants, sport bars and night pubs are also put on a hold for future opening, tentatively sometime in December. The supermarket department is also tentatively set for a Christmas opening. Nagamootoo, as with the rest of Guyana, could not hide his excitement about the opening of this magnificent innovation. “I am very excit-
ed and I can’t wait for Thursday to be here when they would have the grand opening for what would be the single biggest innovation in commerce in Guyana, at least in my 53 years in public life. I hope Guyanese would all share that excitement on Thursday when the doors would be officially opened,” Nagamootoo had expressed after touring the colossal building.
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overnment has plugged some US$100,000 into the ailing Iwokrama International Centre for Rainforest Conservation and Development and has also established a committee to oversee the operations of the organisation. Minister of State Joseph Harmon on Wednesday said the organisation has been failing miserably, particularly in the areas of reaching its operational expenses and being able pay its staff and other expenses. The representation was made by Minister of Governance Raphael Trotman, whose Ministry is responsible for the protection of the national patrimony for the money to be granted to the Centre for its work up to the period September 2015. Cabinet also approved the appointment of a committee comprising Minister of Governance Raphael Trotman, Major General Retired Joseph Singh, Clayton Hall, Dane Gobin from the Iwokrama Centre, Dr Raphael Thomas from the Iwokrama Centre, David Singh from Conservation International, Damien Fernandes of the Protected Areas Commission, along with representatives of the University of Guyana, the Tourism Ministry, the Indigenous People’s Affairs Ministry and the Public infrastructure Ministry. The purpose of the committee is to review the operations of the Centre and to recommend a way forward for the Centre. He said the committee has been given clear instructions to commence work immediately so that decisions could be made in that regard. Only a few months ago – in February of this year – the Centre’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dane Gobin had reported that the organisation has been operating at a shortfall of US$1.3 million for the longest while. At that time, he told Guyana Times in an exclusive interview that the Centre was in need of an average US$2.5 million to effectively execute its mandate which is to promote the conservation and the sustainable use of tropical rainforests in a manner that will lead to lasting ecological, economic and social benefits for the people of Guyana. With the drying up of financial support from international donors, Iwokrama last year managed to rake in a total income of US$1.2 million, with the Government of Guyana contributing US$600,000. In 2013 and 2014, the Government pro-
vided a total of US$1.5 million to relieve the Centre of its financial burden. It has since indicated that this year, it will once again bail out the Centre using some US$100,000 from the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC). Gobin pointed out that in 2013, the Iwokrama International Centre commissioned two financial reports which suggested that between US$750,000 and US$1.2 million was needed annually to meet its core functions. The Centre’s total income of US$1.2 million in 2013 was down by 38 per cent over 2012 levels of US$1.9 million mainly, as a result of a 40 per cent drop in grants income. As a result, total expenditure fell in 2013 recording levels of US$1.1 million against US$2.1 million in 2012 – a decrease of approximately 44 per cent. This decrease was also as a result of the Centre’s austerity programme which included a reduction in staffing levels and operational expenditure together with a consolidation of activities. Financial records for the year ending 2014 are pending. In addition to the Government of Guyana, Commonwealth Secretariat, the Government of Trinidad and Tobago, the European Union, the InterAmerican Development Bank, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, NORAD, the Caribbean Development Bank and Chicago Zoo were among the main contributors for the previous financial years. Harmon however said on Wednesday that the Commonwealth Secretariat had indicated its inability to continue funding. Iwokrama was the first institute to receive Forest Stewardship Council Certification, an international certification in Europe which shows best practices in forest management. The Iwokrama International Centre was established by Guyana and the Commonwealth through the donation of approximately 360,000 hectares (one million acres) of intact tropical rainforest by the Government and people of Guyana to the international community. The responsibility for management, conservation and sustainable development of this forest area (the Iwokrama Forest) has been entrusted to the Iwokrama International Centre, through the Iwokrama International Centre for Rainforest Conservation and Development Act of 1996, and an Agreement between the Government of Guyana and the Commonwealth signed on November 9, 1995.