Kaieteur News Publisher Glenn Lall

Guyana Stores tax bailout….

… demand back-taxes relief like Glenn Lall’s

BY MICHAEL YOUNGE

Several businessmen who own small- and medium-scale stores along the Regent Street, Georgetown business district are demanding that the Government level the playing field and provide adequate or similar assistance to them in line with what was offered to the privately owned Guyana Stores Limited which benefited from a massive multimillion-dollar tax relief concession during the past week.

The businessmen made the demands after Guyana Times broke the news that the National Industrial Commercial and Investments Limited, (NICIL) a State-owned company, paid over $40 million in back taxes owed to the Mayor and City Council of Georgetown on behalf of the Guyana Stores Limited which is privately owned by Businessman Tony Yassin and embattled Kaieteur News owner Glenn Lall.

The payments were made in secret to the City Council and were lumped together with other payments owed by the Government for several of NICIL’s properties in the city. Some $200 million was handed into the City Council’s coffers, with $40 million directed to cover the debt owed by the Guyana Stores Limited.

When contacted on Tuesday, however, Deputy Mayor Patricia Chase-Green denied that monies were paid by Government on behalf of Guyana Stores Limited but confirmed that the interest owed by the company was written off.

She could not give accurate figures as to how much money the cash-strapped Council had foregone, but this had to be in the mega millions, since the Guyana Stores property is one of the most significant in the city.

It is not clear whether the same discretion was exercised when the Government paid monies on behalf of Guyana Stores Limited.

It was also 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 of dollars.

Glenn Lall and Tony Yassin, now Directors of Guyana Stores, owe 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 moves to the courts to recover its monies. In the meantime, the profits of the company are collected and pocketed by the two owners.

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

Businessmen shocked

As the news spread in the business community, several businessmen contacted Guyana Times on Monday and expressed their shock over the move by Government, while decrying the unfairness of the decision to pay the back taxes and other debt owed by the private company.

“I want to know if the new Government would be so kind and considerate to pay my back taxes and to assist me in settling my account as I am similarly not in a position to do so, given the financials of my business. If they can do it for Guyana Stores Limited and Glenn Lall, I am sure they can do it for the more decent, law abiding and honest businessmen,” the owner of a fabric store related.

Speaking under anonymity, another businessman said that the move to pay the back taxes of Guyana Stores was suspicious and discriminatory as the Government did not offer other small and emerging businesses the same facility.

“I want help too. What is special about Glenn Lall and Tony Yassin. These men run (sic) that business into the floor after squeezing its profits dry and now this new Government bail them out. I want the Government come and do the same for me. I vote for them,” another irate businessman of a popular shoe enterprise related.

Others said the fact that Government could engage in such a barefaced act at a time when the economy was bad was both shocking and strange.

“As soon as I read the article, I know is truth. Them men close and I know they use to help out Glenn Lall with a lot of things long before they get into power. Now they got to reward he because of all he did fuh them on the campaign trail. Well I vote for them and I demanding the same treatment and help”, a downtown grocer related.

Others called for the payment of millions of dollars in taxpayers monies on behalf of a private company to be thoroughly investigated and action taken against all those who are involved.

“Things hard and is not now… before the election… and it got worst after… I have noticed a trend where the [A Partnership for National Unity] APNU and [Alliance For Change] AFC always defending Lall and Yassin and it look like the two manage to get the Government to help them again with the Guyana Stores back taxes… I don’t see nothing wrong if you helping businesses, once ya helping everybody because I willing to accept”, the owner of an electronics store reported.

The Government’s relationship with Glenn Lall apparently started way before its ascent to office. The two ruling parties while in Opposition had defended Lall when he was embroiled in several scandals.

Top figures in the parties had represented Lall when he was at the centre of the tax evasion scandal involving the importation of two Luxury SUVs which saw the public coffers loosing over $100 million in taxes.

Lall also received representation and assistance from top officials in the parties when action was taken against him two years ago by the Town Clerk for defaulting on the payments of millions of dollars in property taxes for the operations of two businesses he owns in the city.

At this point of time, when the Government has paid off the $40 million of taxes owed by Guyana Stores – a private company – it has been enmeshed in a bitter controversy where public servants, 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 per cent pay increases.

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