Ramps wins court battle for local content certificate

-Chief Justice says company met legal requirements, warns Secretariat head against contempt

Finding that Ramps Logistics had satisfied every requirement of the Local Content Act, acting Chief Justice Roxane George SC has ordered Head of the Local Content Secretariat Martin Pertab to ensure that the Company is issued its Certificate of Registration no later than noon on Monday.

In a ruling handed down on Friday, Justice George warned Pertab that failure to do so could result in him being held in contempt of court and imprisoned or fined.

Reacting to the ruling, Ramps yesterday said “this win is significant for the people of Guyana,” while adding that “this swift verdict shows the independence of the Court and that private and foreign businesses invest in Guyana with the support of a fair and transparent judicial system.

It said it is pleased that it will be receiving its Local Content Certificate on Monday.

Ramps, whose parent company is Trinidadian, had argued that it was entitled to be issued a certificate of registration and to be entered into the Local Content Register in accordance with Section 6 of the Local Content Act.

It is against this background that it moved to Court for judicial review seeking a number of declarations, among them that the decision of the Minister of Natural Resources and/or the Secretariat made four months ago—on June 8th—refusing to grant the certification was unlawful.

In her ruling yesterday afternoon, the Chief Justice said that both the Minister and the Secretariat had breached the Act. In fact she made it clear that “the Minister had, and has no authority under the Local Content Act, to grant or refuse certification.”

Further, she said that the Secretariat misconstrued the Act and had taken irrelevant factors into consideration, such as pending criminal charges against the company that have “absolutely” no bearing in the determination of whether certification should be granted or not.

‘Woefully short’

The Chief Justice delivered her ruling shortly after arguments were heard, during which Solicitor General Nigel Hawke was at pains to substantiate why Ramps had not been certified even though the evidence before the Court illustrated that the Company was in full compliance with all the requirements of the Act.

Despite a valiant bid to make a case for the Attor-ney General as representative of the State for the Minister and Secretariat, Hawke could not convince the Court that there was really any reason the certification had not been granted.

He also failed in his bid to illustrate that Ramps had not been compliant with the Act; with the Chief Justice declaring that the State “fell woefully short” of countering Ramps’ application.

Among the arguments which Hawke sought to advance on behalf of the State was that there had been criminal tax/custom charges filed against the Company which are still pending, and which led to certification not being granted.

Senior Counsel Edward Luckhoo was, however, very keen in pointing out that those charges to which Hawke referred were in fact instituted way after the application for certification had been made—a fact endorsed by the court. 

Moreover, the Judge pointed out that even apart from that, was the fact that pending charges had nothing to do with the grant or rejection of certification as it was not a requirement listed under the Act.

Hawke then sought to point to older charges which he said had been brought against the Company, arguing that it showed a certain conduct regarding tax and customs matters, which he tried carve into a mould for public policy considerations, which he said the Secretariat was obliged to consider in rejecting the grant for certification.

Again, however, the Chief Justice painstakingly pointed out to him that it was immaterial when the charges would have been instituted, as that was not a requirement of the Act.

While Hawke tried to rely on certain shortcomings which he sought to advance Ramps had not fulfilled, he was unable to illustrate where in the Act the Company was in breach.

He would then conceded the Court’s observation that the Act in itself was “deficient” as it catered for no rules or regulations for conduct in every aspect of its provisions.

Senior Counsel Luckhoo was resolute that his clients had always been in full compliance with the Act and that neither the Minister nor Secretariat had any discretion to go beyond the confines thereof in their decision not to grant certification.

Noting that the deficiencies of the Act could well lead to arbitrariness, the Judge in her ruling ordered that the Chambers of the Attorney General, who is also Minister of Legal Affairs, take steps to have those deficiencies swiftly addressed.

A hearing has been set for the assessment of costs and damages on February 20, 2023.

Significant

In a release to the press following the ruling, Ramps said “his win is significant for the people of Guyana. This swift verdict shows the independence of the Court and that private and foreign businesses invest in Guyana with the support of a fair and transparent judicial system.”

It said that “those following our case should feel confident that the judicial system in Guyana is sound, independent and will support those willing to invest in and grow Guyana’s economy.”

It said it is pleased that it is due to receive its Local Content Certificate on Monday, while expressing its gratitude to the Court for what it said is its “diligence and swiftness” in hearing its case and making a long-awaited decision.

“We are willing and committed to working with the Government and the people of Guyana to make Guyana shine on the world’s stage!” it said.

Ramps moved to the court for judicial review as it contended that it has satisfied the statutory requirements and could not see why its application was still pending.

The move to the court came close to two months after Ramps submitted additional documents to the Secretariat. Ramps Logistics has been pushing for its certification in order to bid for a renewal of a contract with businesses supporting oil and gas activities.

The Court had specifically said in its ruling that the Company was not required to submit any further documents than it had done initially, which was compliant with the Act.

Last month, Local Content Secretariat spokeswoman Makaila Prince told this newspaper that the application for certification of the Company remains in queue in the review process.

Ramps Logistics, which started operating in Guyana in 2013 won the contract to provide freight forwarding and supply chain management services to ExxonMobil Guyana in 2018. It had responded to a public tender for the project.

Under the existing contract the company facilitates logistics for vessels between Guyana and Trinidad, customs brokerage, clearing of equipment and cargo coming through local ports among other functions.

With the contract up for renewal by November of this year, they stand a chance of not being in a position to bid since they were initially denied their local content certification.

Other companies, which provide services similar to Ramps, have already received their local content certification.