Nandlall deflects blame for non-payment of 2014 Cabinet-approved $1.2B after CCJ rulings – but Williams slams Nandlall’s assertions as “erroneous”
FORMER Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall is challenging the claim made by his successor, Attorney General Basil Williams, that he must account for some $1.2B approved by Cabinet in 2014 for court-ordered payments to the Suriname Rudisa Beverage Company. “Mr. Williams seem (sic) not to be able to appreciate that the whimsical withdrawal of such a huge sum of money from the treasury can have far reaching ramifications in an economy like ours,” Nandlall said in a statement to the media.
Williams was making his inaugural address to the National Assembly on June 26 when he noted that there were a number of outstanding court-ordered monies against the Guyana Government at the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) in Trinidad.
“I informed that the previous Government, represented by the former Attorney General had occasioned a judgement in the matter of Rudisa Beverage Company’s case of $1.2B… and that judgement has not been paid by the previous Government,” the Attorney General told the House.
On another case, regarding Trinidad Cement Limited (TCL), Williams further disclosed to the House, in the absence of the Opposition People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), that there is a sum of $57M owed to the company, which was unpaid by the former Administration.
Nandlall, in his response, sought to lay blame for the need to pay $1.2B squarely at the feet of the new Attorney General, and the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU)/Alliance For Change (AFC) parties in the National Assembly during the 10th Parliament (2011-2015).
“This humongous debt on the backs of Guyanese tax payers,” Nandlall said in his statement, “is purely the creation of Mr. Williams and his political colleagues while they had a majority in the 10th Parliament.”
He reasoned, “They rejected our Government’s (PPP/C) attempt to amend our laws on two occasions to bring Guyana in conformity with the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas (RTC).” “Were this amendment passed, Rudisa Beverage Company would have withdrawn the case without Guyana paying a single cent.”
The former PPP/C Attorney General called for his successor to come out and explain to Guyanese “how and why they… have to pay this debt in the first place.”
ASSERTIONS “ERRONEOUS”
Meanwhile, Williams, while talking to the Guyana Chronicle, called Nandlall’s assertions about his party’s objection to the proposed amendments “erroneous”, further stating that the objections to the amendments made by himself, and Ministers Khemraj Ramjattan and Carl Greenidge had nothing to do with the environmental tax.
The environmental tax was the essence of the legal battle between the Government of Guyana and the Surinamese beverage company, which was imposed by what was deemed as “discriminatory” laws enacted by Guyana’s Parliament against the interest of products imported from the CARICOM trading bloc.
In a May 2014 media release from the CCJ, the Court ruling said, “A breach of the RTC cannot be excused on the basis that the Government was unable to obtain from the National Assembly necessary amendments to domestic legislation.”
The release continued: “The CCJ held the claimants (Rudisa) were entitled to a declaration that the legislation was inconsistent with the RTC. The claimants were also entitled to be repaid the environmental taxes collected from them up to 2013, amounting to US$6,047,244.47.”
Additionally, the Court had ordered Guyana to become compliant with the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, which outlines the responsibilities of member countries in CARICOM, and to file a report in late 2014 on compliance with such orders. The Chronicle is unaware whether such a report was filed.
Nandlall in his statement directed Williams to the fact that while the CCJ’s judgement was made in May 2014, “the National Assembly went into recess and then Parliament was prorogued.” “Parliament was then dissolved and of course,” the statement continued, “there were certain limits upon spending in the absence of a budget in 2015.”
Williams told this publication recently that he was in receipt of a memo from Cabinet, which ordered the payment of the $1.2B to the Rudisa Beverage Company, and called on his predecessor Anil Nandlall to account for the $1.2B approved by Cabinet for the CCJ-ordered payments.
Minister of State Joseph Harmon at a recent post-cabinet press briefing told reporters that the Government is prepared to negotiate with the Surinamese beverage company.
While declaring that Cabinet will honour the commitments, Harmon said “Cabinet has advised the Honourable Minister of Legal Affairs to seek to enter into negotiations with these companies with a view to finding out whether they will be prepared to accept a smaller sum as a final settlement in these matters.”
