On November 17, Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat launched into a bizarre tirade over the securing by Ramps Logistics (Guyana) Inc of a certificate under the Local Content Act.
Speaking at a Private Sector Commission (PSC)-organized Local Content Forum he said that the government would be meeting with stakeholders to discuss steps to prevent loopholes in the legislation from being exploited.
“…I can tell you that government is not happy. We expected companies to act in good faith…to act professionally,” Minister Bharrat said, adding that it was time “to say what is on our minds”.
“We saw what played out and we will ensure that there are systems in place to ensure we deal with these matters, as they arise because we can’t have people holding a Guyana passport but never pay a dollar tax in this country to develop it where it where it is today. It is unfair and it is hurtful, too, that you can just show up,” the minister asserted.
“[They] never paid a dollar to develop this country. Don’t even know how that road was built or that school was built and how people was punishing for water in Berbice, like I did, or how children were studying with flambeau and kerosene lamp back in the days. But you just show up like that and want benefits? It is unfair. The government has taken note of that and it is not fair to us fighting every single day to develop this country to where it is today,” he added.
“We are serious about people trying to rent citizens. We are serious about people now trying to acquire (a) Guyanese passport just because of some line of family membership. We are serious about that too because it … It is only fair that us , who stayed who worked, who toiled, who sacrificed to develop this country that we should benefit first and not people who are born elsewhere. But today they come to reclaim their citizenship just for benefits. That is why we issued the LCC (Local Content Certificate) but we have our reservations too,” he said to loud applause from attendees.
“We expected companies to act in good faith too, and not to resurrect people who were not born (here) but somebody was born, and then apply for a Guyana passport and then claim you are Guyanese 100% to the bone. We expected some amount of professionalism, we expected maturity, and we expected that companies would have acted in good faith; and obviously they didn’t,” he posited.
It is clear that the Minister was referring to Ramps Logistics however none of the lamentations had any bearing on compliance with the Local Content Act. Closing loopholes in legislation is standard practice after lawmakers have examined how the laws have worked and whether they have met the intended objectives. There is nothing wrong with closing loopholes. The problem for Minister Bharratt and the government is that all of their energies seemed devoted to preventing Ramps Logistics from being certified, no matter the cost and no matter whether the company was in compliance with the law that the government itself pioneered. That is wholly unacceptable and dangerous to the rule of law. The law must be applied evenly to all who come before it and it is an aphorism that Minister Bharrat – and his government – must take to heart notwithstanding the assertion of the Attorney General that the Chief Justice’s decision ordering that Ramps be issued a certificate will be “scrupulously examined“ to determine whether there will be further proceedings.
Everything about the government’s approach to Ramps Logistics’ application to the Local Content Secretariat reeked of an intent to deny it certification even it was compliant and the only logical conclusion that could be drawn was that there was another company that was being primed to supplant it.
After having applied for the certificate in April this year, Ramps, which then had 398 Guyanese in its employ, received an automated message on June 8 from the Local Content Secretariat informing it that the application had been denied. That is certainly not the manner in which the Secretariat should be conducting business. There was no explanation by the Secretariat or any information on whether defective portions of the application could be cured. The Local Content Secretariat did not respond to subsequent queries from Ramps and it was not until June 28th that under the glare of public scrutiny that the Secretariat provided an explanation for the refusal of the certificate which Ramps disagreed with. Ramps pursued the matter and reapplied during which period it also ended up in court facing charges from the Guyana Revenue Authority and which the Secretariat conveniently used to freeze consideration of the reapplication. Judicial review was then sought and the Chief Justice (ag) pulverised the inane arguments proffered by the Attorney General’s Chambers.
In ordered societies, the conduct of the Local Content Secretariat in relation to this application would have come under stern review but it is clear to the public that the Secretariat operates under the instructions of the government. Nevertheless, the Secretariat should be made to show that Ramps’ application was addressed in the same manner as all of the other applications. It would be frankly shocking that all of the approved applicants submitted pristine documentation. All acts of government and its agencies must be able to withstand scrutiny and be transparent. In the plugging of loopholes in this Act, one hopes that the government will swiftly promulgate the regulations that would allow – as the court suggested – the law to function without the discretion that was evident in this case.
It is unclear in what context Minister Bharrat lamented about tax not being paid as Ramps and its employees will have to fulfil tax obligations. However, his comment won’t escape the notice of the legions who have hammered the government for scandalously continuing with the farce of paying taxes on behalf of ExxonMobil. That is one crater-like loophole, amongst others, in the 2016 Production Sharing Agreement that the government steadfastly refuses to address. Guyana cannot even consider applying windfall taxes on Exxon and its partners as is being done in other jurisdictions as the state is the one who will be paying.
The Minister’s nativist sentiment about people born elsewhere profiting off of Guyana may also trigger questions about the manner in which – under successive PPP/C governments – the retail sector in this country has been extensively populated by Chinese migrants to the detriment of long-established local businesses without even the devising of some framework or policy to govern activities in this area.
As it relates to who is a Guyanese, the Minister would be well aware of the constitutional underpinning of that definition and its primacy.
The contretemps over Ramps is a signal lesson to the government – and the private sector – that the rule of law must be upheld.
