Dr. Bulkan debunks Baishanlin’s claim against govt.

Dear Editor,

In relation to the threat by Bai Shan Lin against the Government of Guyana reported by Demerara Waves (see ‘Bai Shan Lin wants GRA to release seized vehicles; UN Chief written over dispute’, http://wp.me/p74HcF-4A9) , my reading of the ‘Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Guyana and the Government of the People’s Republic of China on the promotion and protection of investments’ (signed on 27 March 2003) is that Bai Shan Lin has absolutely no claim against Guyana for actions against its numerous illegalities and defaults. On another matter – if there is no FDI document for Bai Shan Lin, how could there be fiscal concessions for more than ten years?
Minister with some responsibility for the Natural Resources Sector, Raphael Trotman, and Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan, allegedly said that they could not find the documents covering the foreign direct incentive (FDI) tax concessions awarded by the PPP/C regime a decade ago to the Chinese transnational logger Bai Shan Lin (‘Concessions granted under PPP must be renegotiated – Govt. Official’, Kaieteur News 18 January 2016).  The Ministry of Finance has been awarding tax concessions to BSL annually during this decade, and publishing the amounts from time to time in the Guyana Chronicle.  So some person or unit in the Ministry of Finance must be aware of the legal authority for such dispensation.  If the currently chaotic Special Organized Crime Unit (SOCU) and Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) are unable to deal with this simple case, no doubt our Attorney General, Basil Williams, has reminded the Cabinet that the National Assembly itself can take action?
‘Where it appears to a legislative body that anyone within Guyana is able to give any information with respect to the subject matter of any question arising for its determination or has any books, plans, or documents in his possession or under his control in any way relating to the subject matter of that question, that body may cause a summons to be issued to the person . . . requiring the person to be and appear before the legislative body . . . for the purpose of being examined (and, if so required, then and there to produce the books, plans, or documents mentioned in the summons . . .’ (section 3 (1) in the Legislative Bodies (Evidence) Act (cap. 1:08, 1880/1977)).  This Act goes on to prescribe penalties for failing to appear when summoned and for failing to produce the documents.
Thus the National Assembly can compel evidence from the Ministries, Bai Shan Lin itself and from the innermost recesses of the PPP/C.  We look forward to immediate action by the National Assembly, given that Bai Shan Lin has been receiving more than US$ 40 million income annually from its sales of unprocessed timber logs, entirely contrary to approved national policies and the manifestos of the main political parties since 2006, plus those investment incentives, but has failed to construct even the foundations for its long promised US$70 million wood processing facility.
And don’t forget the sales of steel imported duty free by BSL and then sold on to the private sector  instead of being used for construction of the BSL wood processing facility.
Janette Bulkan

How China does business in Guyana

Dear Editor,

The Dragon roars, spits fire, and the Jaguar finally pays attention. Is this some kind of fictional storyline? Certainly not! Bai Shan Lin’s overture to the UN Boss to “remind” Guyana of its treaty obligations is not only real but is a case study which draws international attention to how China does business in developing countries.
Industrially, China has been expanding over the last three decades in various sectors including, housing, mining, transportation, and technology. In the course of its economic growth, it needs to satisfy its voracious appetite for exploiting Guyana’s virgin resources as it did in other parts of South America and Africa.  For ten years, the PPP Government granted these companies the most favored status to invest virtually unchecked and has also rewarded the leaders with Guyanese citizenship. The forensic audits have found that many of these investments contracts were giveaways of the country’s resources with very little scope for monitoring and accountability. Further to that, many arrangements are not on the books. However, Anand Goolsarran’s audit of the Guyana Forestry Commission is insightful of how the previous government conducted business in secrecy through a network of top officials and the blessings of Freedom House.
Bai Shan Lin’s move to the UN boss has illuminated the fact that this company and its affiliates are not private companies but state companies, as the United Nations charter would allow for the settlement of nation to nation disputes; this much I suspected with Harmon’s mission to China. In my letter on April 13, 2016 I questioned, “Should we prioritize our diplomatic relationship focusing on the benefits of China’s investments, or the short-term repossession of assets?” It will be prudent to re-negotiate the contracts with Bai Shan Lin and its affiliates at the diplomatic level with the direction of our Foreign Affairs Minister who also heads the Department of International Economic Cooperation.
In hindsight, it seems more apparent that Harmon’s intervention to opt for negotiation rather than retaliation was the more prudent and statesman approach. The rush to judgement now appears as a short-sighted knee jerk reaction.  It appears that by virtue of this recent legal maneuver, our Ministries of Business, Foreign Affairs, and Attorney General’s office should now proceed to scrutinize the details of these contracts with the goal of reaching a win-win outcome for both China and Guyana, deriving benefits befitting both the Dragon and the Jaguar.  Seizing of a few vehicles is chicken feed as compared to big projects when properly negotiated with an economic power-house as China.  The streamlining of these contracts can bring jobs and economic development.
Bai Shan Lin wants its vehicles and concessions, but where are the deliverables such as the wood-processing plant, new roads, and jobs for our people? Fortunately or unfortunately, the coalition government is expected to straighten this mess. The PPP Government treated the resources of the nation as their private property.  Former President Jagdeo initiated the early contracts and although his succeeding President Ramotar suspended Parliament on November 10, 2014 he found it opportune to renew this investment agreement in January, 2015 for a period of three years without Parliament’s blessings. It leaves one to question other possible investments, giveaways, and concessions in this period leading up to the elections on May 11, 2015.
The void and frustrations created by the failure of proper hand-over of all the contract documents from the previous administration and the inaction of some principal legal officers to clean up this mess will be addressed in future columns.  For the issue of Bi Shan Lin’s complaint, we are finally back to the negotiations table before any United Nations intervention. Meanwhile, the Chinese Dragon which depicts nine different animals and symbolizes power, strength, and good-luck in things of nature, stalks the land. How will this fierce Jaguar portrayed in our Coat-of-Arms and Golden Jubilee symbol respond?
Max Wallerson

BaiShanLin writes UN on vehicles’ seizure

– says APNU/AFC wants to cripple company’s operations in Guyana

– GRA breached agreement between Govts of Guyana and China

following the seizure of two luxury vehicles from BaiShanLin Forest Development Inc last month, principals of the controversial Chinese conglomerate have written the Secretary General of the United Nations (UN) Ban Ki-moon on the matter, stating that the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) has breached the agreement between the Governments of Guyana and China.

On April 5, officials from GRA’s Customs Department seized a Lexus SUV with registration number PRR 2888 and a Nissan mini-van with licence plate PRR 3888, belonging to BaiShanLin. Guyana Times was told that the Chinese logging company allegedly has over $50 million outstanding in duties, which it failed to pay within the

UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon

stipulated time frame.

However, according to the letter dated May 16, 2016, Attorney C V Satram on behalf of the company complained to the UN that the seizure was in breach of the agreement signed by the two countries in March 2003, noting that “the Government of the Republic 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”.

The letter, which was seen by this newspaper, was also copied to President David Granger. It outlined that BaiShanLin represents Chinese investments in Guyana and Guyana’s relationship with China is threatened by these events; therefore, it was requested that the UN remind Guyana of its obligations.

“I shall be grateful if action can be taken to remind the Government of Guyana and China of their obligations in this regard. 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

Foreign Affairs Minister Carl Greenidge

that treaty obligations are not honoured here,” the letter stated.

Moreover, the correspondence further pointed out that in accordance with the agreement, which is on record with the UN as a treaty between China and Guyana, disputes are to be settled after consultations through diplomatic channels. However, in the event of failure to reach a resolution within six months, then the process of arbitration can be adopted.

On this note, the company said it has called on Foreign Affairs Minister Carl Greenidge and the Chinese Ambassador to Guyana Zhang Limin to commence diplomatic consultations with the aim of settling the disputes.

In that letter to Minister Greenidge, the company explained that following the execution of the agreement, BaiShanLin went on to invest enormous sums of money in Guyana and in the development of forest products. However, since the Administration was changed after the May 2015 General Elections, the new Government has embarked upon a course of activities designed to cripple the company’s operations in Guyana, the Attorney stated.

The latest of which, the letter highlighted, was the imposition of tax liabilities on vehicles for which the company was granted duty-free concessions by the previous Government.

“The new Government seeks to dismantle the concessionary structure, and has commenced to seize property (owned by the company)… in pursuance of its tax liability, which the company claims to be unlawful, the Government, through its Revenue Authority, has embarked upon seizures to enforce the tax liability which is denied and is strongly contested,” the correspondence to the Foreign Affairs Minister stated, adding that the investment agreement under which the concessions were granted has not expired.

Moreover, a third letter was dispatched on behalf of the Chinese logging company, this time to the GRA, stating the Authority’s action was in disregard of the international obligations of Guyana under the agreement with China.

“The purported imposition of the liability is unlawful and the imposition of it triggered a dispute between the company and the Government of Guyana,” the letter detailed.

Moreover, Attorney Satram on behalf of the company sought to request that the vehicles be returned within the next week. “On behalf of the company for which I act I hereby call upon you to release and return to the company all property which has been seized from it or has been possessed or confiscated within seven(7)days of the date hereof,” the company’s legal representative stated.

According to BaiShanLin, this is a matter of concern not only to it, but to all investors who wish to undertake investment in Guyana.

Days after the seizure just over a month ago, attempts were made by this newspaper to ascertain GRA’s course of action in recouping the outstanding payments. When asked whether the Authority would be filing criminal charges against the foreign company or would opt to settle the matter beforehand, GRA Chairman Rawle Lucas had stated that no decision had been taken at the time.

However, the latter option might be more feasible, he had noted, since Government wants to maintain its relationship with investors, but at the same time ensure that they operate within the confines of the laws of Guyana.

“Remember, what we are trying to do is to make sure that we can try our best to maintain a reasonable relationship that we expect between the Government and the investors; so one should, therefore, expect prudent actions to be taken in order to deal with the matter,” he previously pointed out.

A company can always terminate a contract before its termination date.

However, in all contracts there is/are very specific clause(s) which deal(s) with compensation plus other benefits the company --- in this case the Government --- must pay to the terminated contractor.

These thieving Chinese must think that all Guyanese are fools. First they come and do business with us, pretending to be a private company. Now it transpires that it is actually the Chinese government who is behind it all. We are supposed to be protecting our forest, and paid to do so by Norway. Meanwhile these thieving slit eyes want to mow down our country and leave us a barren land. Good on Granger. Jagdeo and Ramotar should be ashamed of themselves for taking Chinese money, and not considering the huge losses in taxes et.c that the Guyanese public endured.

Here again we see PPP policy. The Chinese ruined the forests of South East Asia with rapacious harvesting. Did the same in Africa, until those gov'ts banned the export of raw logs.

So along they came to Guyana, the province of the "King of the Jungle", He proceeds to allow them to export raw logs, and made no attempt to get them to live up to the promise of value added.

Now deprived of his kingdom, when he isn't running around screaming "blackman a kill ahbe", and then hypocritical getting photo ops with vendors (while he skins up his face with scorn), he now wails about how backward Guyana's economy is.  He screams that his friends can no longer do as they want.

The current slow down in the economy was predicted since before the elections last year.  In fact TK and I spoke about this.  An economy over dependent on the export of raw commodities, with almost no value added. Growth concentrated in the real estate/construction, and the retail sectors, clearly due to money laundering from the underground economy, and recycled remittances.

Real estate valuations way in excess of the purchasing power of the population, so clearly based on speculation by the oligarchs.  The bubble is popping, and this began to happen BEFORE the election, when mortgage default rates began to increase.

But the real issue, is when the PPP clowns are asked what the PPP was doing that was so brilliant, NONE of them can tell us what. Then they wail, "oh the PPP isn't in power anymore so why are you talking about them". Yes the same frauds who still scream about their version of events from almost 60 years ago! 

"Head of the PSC’s Economic Services Committee Ramesh Persaud, in a presentation on the state of the economic sector from 2001 to 2015, reported a decline, especially over the past three years. These included declines in imports and exports, commodities, loans granted to the private sector and overall Gross Domestic Product. “You might be hearing a very consistent term there—that everything has declined. This is not my interpretation, this is the numbers alright,” Persaud said as he pointed to a series of illustrations of the country’s economic scales."

https://guyana.crowdstack.io/topic/pr...onditions-for-growth

Them fellas does prattle what they heard from Robb Street.

Django posted:

"Head of the PSC’s Economic Services Committee Ramesh Persaud, in a presentation on the state of the economic sector from 2001 to 2015, reported a decline, especially over the past three years. These included declines in imports and exports, commodities, loans granted to the private sector and overall Gross Domestic Product. “You might be hearing a very consistent term there—that everything has declined. This is not my interpretation, this is the numbers alright,” Persaud said as he pointed to a series of illustrations of the country’s economic scales."

https://guyana.crowdstack.io/topic/pr...onditions-for-growth

---

 

Them fellas does prattle what they heard from Robb Street.

I will repeat it for emphasis.

Now what will that female, named Bibi do?   I guess Ramesh becomes a niggIndian, a Congo Lover, a Kumbaya, a Cuffy Lover, or a neemakaram.