| Guyana is bound to face a number of lawsuits given that the country remains in violation of theFormer Attorney General Anil Nandlallrevised Treaty of Chaguaramas.Former Attorney General, (AG) and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall expressed this view, in light of disclosures made by the country’s current AG, Basil Williams.While addressing the National Assembly on Friday, Williams told the House of yet another financial obligation which the PPP administration did not honour, leaving the country in an awful state of economic disrepair.Williams said that the discovery was made during a recent visit to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ). The AG said that he was informed that Guyana is yet to honor its financial obligation as it relates to the outcome of a matter with the Suriname Company Rudisa Beverage Company. The Court awarded the Suriname Company some $1.2B (US$6M) which had been collected as an environmental tax in contravention of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas which requires equal treatment of products and services from all Caricom member countries. But the PPP, two years later, never honoured the obligation.Williams also revealed that $57M which was judiciously awarded to Trinidad Cement Limited (TCL) when it won a case against the PPP government is also yet to be paid. He questioned whether the former AG (Anil Nandlall) can provide an answer as to why his government did not pay the sums.Attorney General,Basil WilliamsResponding to the allegations yesterday Nandlall issued a statement which noted that the matter between the Caribbean Court of Justice in a case filed against the State of Guyana by Rudisa Beverage Company of Suriname has been in the public domain, even as it unfolded before the court.“It boggles the mind that the Attorney General made this “discovery” by chance when I repeatedly and ad nauseam made this information public, both when the judgement was awarded, as well as on numerable times thereafter,” Nandlall stressed.The former AG noted that he sought to have the matter addressed on numerous occasions. He said that as he spoke on the matter,NFL Jerseys Wholesale, “I explained why, and on what basis, this judgment was granted.”Nandlall claims that during the hearing of the case, the Rudisa Company undertook before the CCJ, that were Guyana to remove from its laws, the offensive provisions, they would withdraw their case.As a result, he said that the necessary amendments to the Customs Act were tabled in the National Assembly, by the then Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh, on two occasions, but both times, the joint opposition, which held a majority in the National Assembly, voted against the amendments.Nandlall pointed out that it was, in fact Williams, Khemraj Ramjattan and Carl Greenidge, who addressed the House emphatically against the amendments, on both occasions.“In both instances, I explained to the House that the case is pending at the CCJ, and if the amendments are not passed, judgement will be granted against Guyana. My appeals fell on deaf ears.” he added.According to Nandlall the truth is that Guyana is liable to face many more lawsuits once the country remains in violation of the revised Treaty of Chaguaramas.He said that it would therefore be prudent if the current AG could ensure that Guyana complies with its Treaty obligations, rather than engage in political ramblings on this issue.Nandlall also claims no award was made by the CCJ with regard to “the second “debt” referred to by Williams.In relation to 57 million Guyana dollars which was awarded against the State in a matter brought by Trinidad Cement Limited, the former AG explained that the only monetary order made in that matter relates to costs and it is nothing close to that amount. |
