Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo has voiced strong objection to the Georgetown Mayor and City Council’s (M&CC) decision to grant a 25% waiver on interest accrued on rates and taxes owed by One Communications (formerly Guyana Telephone and Telegraph) company.
Speaking at a press conference yesterday, Jagdeo argued that foreign companies, particularly those with substantial assets, should not receive such concessions. “We are opposed to city council giving a waiver to GTT, these foreign companies for their rates and taxes, it’s ridiculous,” Jagdeo stated.
He pointed out that the M&CC often claims that they are cash-strapped but at the same time, they are giving waivers to a huge company like One Communications.
He criticized the Alfred Mentore-led city council for granting a waiver to a foreign company with significant financial resources. “These are big companies, they have huge assets here, they are selling their assets, making tens of millions of US dollars in Guyana. They should pay their fair share of taxes at the city council,” the Vice President argued.
He firmly stated that foreign companies should be excluded from any tax waivers, especially when such waivers do not form part of a negotiated fiscal incentive.
“The foreign-owned companies, why should we be giving rich foreign companies that make a ton of money, waiver of their taxes in the city when this is something that they signed up for…” he added.
Moreover, Jagdeo called for a clear and transparent policy on waivers that should be announced for everyone and not done ‘behind closed doors.’
