– Foreign Affairs Minister

By Kiana A. Wilburg
When foreign companies breach Guyana’s laws, justice must take its course. And attempts to circumvent this process by hiding under the shield of diplomatic relations just won’t cut it.

Foreign Affairs Minister, Carl Greenidge

This was the general view of Foreign Affairs Minister Carl Greenidge, as he reflected on the recent move by Chinese company, BaiShanLin International Forest Development Inc, to request that the United Nations (UN) intervene in a tax matter that the establishment is caught in.
The matter involved the seizure of two high-end vehicles last month by the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) from BaiShanLin due to outstanding taxes.
Law firm, Satram and Satram, representing BaiShanLin, wrote the Commissioner-General of GRA demanding that the two vehicles, a Lexus SUV and Nissan van, be released within seven days.
The lawyers insisted that the seizures triggered a dispute between the company and the Government of Guyana, and are contrary to the agreement between China and Guyana, signed on the 27th day of March 2003, that dealt with the promotion and protection of investments between the two countries.
Also written to over the seizures were Minister Greenidge and Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-Moon.
The lawyers said in the letter to GRA, “The investment agreement under which concessions were granted has

BaiShanLin Managing Director, Chu Hongbo

not expired as you alleged in your letters. It was renewed in January 2015 for a further period of three years.”
In the letter to the United Nations Secretary-General, the company complained that in breach of the agreement with China, the Government of Guyana has commenced operations, beginning with the seizure of property and the threatened loss to forfeit the company’s investments, and to cripple its business in Guyana.
“Under the agreement, disputes are to be settled after consultations through diplomatic channels and in the event of failure by arbitration. The company was established as a Chinese investment with funds from China.”
BaiShanLin wants the United Nations to “remind” the government of Guyana and China of their obligations in this regard.
The lawyers said, “The matter is causing severe losses to the company I represent, but it may extend to create impediments to foreign investment in Guyana to the prejudice of the national interest when it becomes known that treaty obligations are not honoured here. The company represents Chinese investments in Guyana and Guyana’s relationship with China is threatened by these events.”
In an interview with Kaieteur News yesterday, Greenidge expressed that he is not aware that either in Guyana or any of the jurisdictions that he is familiar with, that authorities enshrined with executing the law, meaning customs or the police, can be restrained from implementing the law because of diplomatic relations.
“In other words, if the police feel that a foreigner or a local is breaking the law, they don’t have to go and seek the permission or the approval of your uncle or the British Embassy, they prosecute you. If you feel that what they are doing is wrong, then you have recourse to instruments provided under the Constitution, namely, you take a lawyer and plead your case in court,” the Foreign Affairs Minister asserted.
He added, “But once the authorities are satisfied that they are acting properly, then foreign firms do not have any basis for demanding that otherwise be done and I am not aware that Guyana and BaiShanLin have any agreement that can be mediated by the United Nations.”
The Foreign Affairs Minister said that when it comes to investors in a country, the Investment Agreement specifically says in the event of disputes, how they will be handled – as you have the International Centre for the Settlement of Disputes, for example.
He said too that matters can also be settled in the local courts.
“I don’t want the public to think that there is any extra-territorial body that can say they got a complaint from an investor and without looking at what happened or how the law was broken, can say ‘restore their vehicles’ as in this case with BaiShanLin,’ Greenidge explained.
The Foreign Affairs Minister emphasized that Guyana’s law is paramount. He said that “foreign companies cannot hide under the shield of diplomatic relations when the law is broken and diplomatic ties cannot be used or brought up when it’s time to defend BaiShanLin”.
He insisted that “Diplomatic considerations cannot and must not trump the law.” BaiShanLin, which came here a decade ago concentrating at first on logging, has spread its branches into various sectors, with its activities ranging from gold mining to housing development, ship building, transportation, and commerce.
It was granted almost $2B in duty free concessions and other waivers, on the condition that it invests in a wood processing plant in Linden, among other things. Ten years later, and the company is still to fulfill its obligations to Guyana.
It still owes the Government hundreds of millions of dollars for at least one property, an unfinished hotel at Providence, it has purchased. Several staffers were reportedly laid off last week, with the company claiming that negative publicity exacerbated the situation.
The company, which has registered around 20 subsidiaries, says it has run out of money, with its majority shareholder, China Long Jiang Forest Industry Group, announced to take control of local operations this year.