Latest update November 26th, 2024 1:00 AM
Berbice Bridge Company wants $50,000 per page to release public documents
…Brassington may have tendered falsified documents to conceal info – Chris Ram
The Berbice Bridge Co. Ltd. yesterday sent a letter to Christopher Ram, Financial analyst, demanding $50,000 for access to documents of the company.
It all began when Ram discovered that certain documents filed by Winston Brassington, Secretary of the company, may have been deliberately falsified to conceal information on the stakeholders of the company.
Ram told Kaieteur News that alternative sources of information suggested that one of the stakeholders is a company headed by Winston Brassington who also heads NICIL, the government-owned company.
He suggested that a possible reason for falsifying the record (the amount returned) is to cancel the fact that the government company annually waives approximately $115 million of the dividends due on the preference shares it holds.
Ram noted that as a member of the public he has a right to inspect certain documents of the company, a right that the company conceded in a letter to him on October 1. One week later the company secretary wrote Ram telling him that access to the records would attract a reasonable fee of $50,000 per record, payable in advance or upon presentation.
The majority of the documents to which Ram sought access would be single page documents such as the articles of incorporation and amendments thereto, and notices of changes in Directors and Secretary.
Another record is the register of shareholders which would probably consist of no more than eight names. The BBCI is notorious for the late filing of records and filed its 2011 doctored annual returns two weeks ago.
That return should have been filed since August 2012. The 2012 annual return due to be filed no later than August 2013 has still not been filed.
Ram expressed disgust at the craven conduct of the board of the company whose directors include former Chancellor of the Judiciary, Cecil Kennard, and respected engineer Egbert Carter.
The Chairman of the board is Keith Evelyn, a colleague of Winston Brassington while the Ramroop Group was recently given two board positions, including Deputy Chairman.
The Ramroop group has two board positions for its 12 per cent shareholding while Hand in Hand shareholding in the company is three per cent.
The government has one Director for its 71 per cent shareholding.
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