TOPCO Juice company should have been awarded the contract

Sep 25, 2016 Letters

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Dear Editor,
I hold no brief either for Tropical Orchards Products Limited (TOPCO), a subsidiary of Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL), or Caribbean International Distribution Inc (CIDI), a subsidiary of Rudisa Beverages Company of Suriname. However, the decision of the Gov’t to award a contract to CIDI for the supply of boxed juices to the National School Feeding Program must raise eyebrows. TOPCO has been the supplier since 2010. From the press reports, it was the lowest bidder. CIDI was the third lowest bidder. DDL is a company of international renown. Its products have received awards globally. My research has revealed that TOPCO’s operations and packaging have been certified by international assessors as meeting the required international standards.
Indeed, TOPCO is commercially certified to produce certain beverages by PepsiCo International, one of the beverage-producing giants of the world. If a company of the stature, reputation and quality of TOPCO comes in as the lowest bidder in any open and fair bidding system, it is extraordinarily difficult to conceive of a reason why it ought not to be awarded the contract, taking into consideration the fact, of course, that the assessors are not bound to accept the lowest bid. The reason for excluding such a company like TOPCO must be quite exceptional. In a public statement, the reason offered by the Gov’t for rejecting TOPCO’s bid was “continued issues with past performance dating back to2012”.If TOPCO is to launch a legal challenge; such a flimsy reason would never be accepted as reasonable, sufficient or credible, in the circumstances, by any competent Court.
I recognized that the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas obliges Guyana not to discriminate against Caricom produced goods but to create a level trading playfield. I am not advocating a breach of this Treaty. But countries throughout the Region have found ways and means of granting incentives to their local producers while at the same time complying with the letter and spirit of the Treaty. For example, although energy cost is cheaper in Trinidad than anywhere else in the Region, Trinidad subsidizes electricity for its manufacturing sector. No one has challenged Trinidad at the Caribbean Court of Justice for breaching the Treaty.
In contradistinction, there seems to be the reverse taking place in Guyana, where the Gov’t seems bent on creating an un-level playing-field for local manufacturers. This posture amounts to a reverse of the discrimination contemplated by the Treaty of Chaguaramas. This is obviously evident in a plethora of anti-business measures and policies promulgated and being implemented by the Govt.
Some of these policies include: astronomical increases, in some instances, as high as 1200% in 140 public licenses fees; imposition of VAT on heavy duty equipment in the agricultural, mining, forestry and construction industries which were hitherto VAT-free; the imposition of taxes on imported raw materials for the manufacturing industry; the imposition of higher import duties and taxes on motor vehicles by banning the importation of vehicles that are 8 years and older; the imposition of higher taxes on steel; the imposition of a tax on container; the routine subjecting of almost every container imported to almost 100% inspection by Customs which invariably leads to increase in Customs and Excise Duties; increase parking fees for parking at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport by 400%; the impending implementation of parking meters within the City of Georgetown; the increase in application fees for State lands from $5,000 to $55,000; the proposal to increase rates and taxes on properties throughout the country; the proposal to increase drainage and irrigation charges by MMA/ADA from $2,500 per acre to $6,000 per acre; and the withholding of tax concessions to local investors which were available under the PPP/C Administration.
It is against this backdrop that the TOPCO case must be examined before one can get a proper appreciation of its implications as well as to be able to situate the Govt’s approach to the local private sector. Apart from the Govt, the private sector is the largest creator of jobs in the country and the most significant contributor to the economic well-being of this nation. The President has already signaled to the rice industry that “rice is not the Govt’s business”. Similarly, contrary to promises made on the 2015 election campaign trail, the President has indicated that creating jobs is not the business of his Govt and that individuals must strive to create jobs, using their own initiatives. To compound the situation, since it took Office, the Govt has launched an institutional policy of effecting mass dismissals of persons in the public sector and from public corporations on the grounds of ethnicity and politics.
It is common knowledge that TOPCO does not own a farm from which it gets raw materials for the production of its juices. Its raw materials are sourced from hundreds of small farmers throughout the length and breadth of this country. The loss of this contract will no doubt have disastrous impact which will trickle down to every corner of the country. The Govt appears numb to these realities. Only two weeks ago, Barama laid-off a hundred and eighty (180) employees.
Anil Nandlall
Editor’s note: because of length, this letter will conclude tomorrow

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