Government pays off $40M Guyana Stores’ taxes

Glenn Lall

…City Hall writes off $M in past due interest

– as public servants struggle for salaries

The Government-owned National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) has paid over some $40 million in taxes to the Georgetown Mayor and City Council, on behalf of the Guyana Stores Limited owned primarily by Glenn Lall, publisher of the Kaieteur News and his best friend Tony Yassin of New York. This is against the background of Government claiming there are no monies to raise salaries of public servants, teachers, police and nurses.

Tony Yassin

Officials within the Georgetown Mayor and City Council’s Treasury department and at the NICIL headquarters confirmed on Thursday that indeed NICIL paid up millions in past due taxes settling part of the huge amount owed to the city for the several properties it owns. Those officials denied only acknowledged $168M paid, without conceding that an additional $40M was paid on behalf of Guyana Stores.

“Included in that amount were payments for Guyana Stores Limited”, another source at City Hall explained. It was not immediately clear why the government would direct NICIL to make the multimillion dollar payment to the city council on behalf of the private company which it currently has several court actions against for hundreds of millions outstanding monies owed to the government. Glenn Lall and Tony Yassin, now Directors of Guyana Stores, owes US$2 million of the US$6 million the property was sold for back in 2000 by the Government via NICIL. Past due interest on the outstanding balance would amount almost to another US$2 million. The matter is sub judice as the Government owned corporation move to the courts to recover its monies. In the meantime, the profits of the company are collected by the two owners.

Mayor Hamilton Green

The present Government had criticised the past PPP Administration of using NICIL as a “slush fund” and it appears that this is what the new Ministry of Finance, under which NICIL falls, has now utilised the monies deposited in the putatively autonomous body.

Calls by this newspaper to the mobile phone of the newly appointed NICIL Chairman Maurice Odle went unanswered over the last two days, after he had promised to return a call. Minister of Finance Winston Jordan had originally been appointed to this position, but after protests stepped down.

Mayor Hamilton Green confirmed to the Guyana Times on Tuesday that the payment by NICIL was received but he could not divulge the particulars. Both the wife of the Mayor and Glenn Lall had been hauled before the courts for unpaid taxes to the City.

Town Clerk Royston King could not be reached at his office nor via his mobile to clarify details of the payments either despite the fact that this newspaper made several checks at his office.

Deputy Mayor Patricia Chase-Green

However, when contacted on Tuesday, Deputy Mayor and Member of the Amnesty Committee Patricia Chase-Green confirmed that the Council was in receipt of the said payments, explaining that it was not unusual for a lump sum payment to be made by NICIL as it occurred several times over the years.

She said that NICIL still has outstanding amounts to be cleared but could not give any specific numbers at the moment.

Chase-Green also confirmed that the NICIL would also have benefited from a write off the total accumulated interest on the properties concerned which could amount of several million over any given period.

She could not say immediately when questioned by Guyana Times, what was the amount written off as interest – which would be monies the city is foregoing as part of the amnesty arrangement.

Guyana Stores Limited (GSL)

Asked what properties were covered in what she claimed to be a $168 million payment from NICIL and for a possible break-down, Chase-Green would not provide the details. She however denied that payments were made by NICIL on behalf of Guyana Stores Limited and were part and parcel of the $168 million payments made when questioned by this newspaper.

At the time the Government has paid off the $40 million of taxes owned by a private company, it has been enmeshed in a controversy where public servants, the police, nurses and teachers have complained bitterly that while the government claims they have no money to give them their promised salary increases, they were able to find money to give themselves 50% pay increases.

Government had also vowed to return the millions in NICIL’s accounts to the Consolidated Funds, from where they could have been used to pay the increase salaries for Government servants. With NICIL funds depleted through the paying off of debts of private companies such as Guyana Stores these increased look increasingly uncertain in the future.

Analysts have questioned the reason why the government would open itself to further criticisms of ignoring its support base by favours bestowing such huge benefits to the controversial Glenn Lall.