Dear Editor,
Mr Girwar Lalaram, former employee of Asian transnational loggers, Malaysian-owned Barama Company Limited and Chinese company Bai Shanlin, alleges that “their cost savings on concessions granted is about US$3000 per month” (‘Ensure level-playing field in local forest industry—Expert urges new Gov’t’, KN, June 4). The table below details annual “loss of revenue” – the term used by the Guyana Revenue Authority in its published report of tax exemptions granted. I was only able to get the GRA advertisement for financial years 2004-2007. As far as I could establish, the GRA only had this information published on one day per year in one national newspaper (Guyana Chronicle). In the four year period 2004-2007 the tax waivers granted to Barama Buckhall and Barama Company Ltd were US$7.4 million and to Bai Shanlin and its subsidiary companies US$1.5 million.
I do not have commensurate data for the years before or following 2004-2007 but I suspect that Bai Shanlin’s tax waivers would have increased in tandem with its importation of logging trucks and skidders and duty free fuel, and Barama’s tax waivers would have continued in the same vein.
Given the commitment of the new political administration to implementation of the shared government approach in Article 13 of the National Constitution 1980/2003, may I request through you, Editor, and through Minister of Finance Winston Jordan, the set of annual statements from the GRA Commissioner for tax exemptions granted /‘loss of revenue’ for the forest sector companies for each year 1992-2003 and 2008-2014.
Yours faithfully,
Janette Bulkan
