GuySuCo metal ends up in hands of scrap dealers

May 28, 2018 News

Somehow, scrap metal dealers across the country have been able to get their hands on metal belonging to the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo).
Some of the metal represents pieces of equipment that have been condemned as not working; others are obsolete spare parts that were never used.
Kaieteur News saw a memorandum that states, “GoG is concerned that local ‘scrap dealers’ may have metal that has been stolen and has thus prohibited the export of the product.”
It continues, “The National Industrial and Commercial Investment Limited/ Special Purpose Unit/ GuySuCo (“the estates”) will be allowed to sell scrap metal provided there can be assurance that it is exported and that the existing inventory of local dealers does not get exported. GoG thus favours the mechanism of selling all of the metal to an overseas dealer who will take it all out of the country in an efficient manner.”
This newspaper understands that several companies submitted bids to be authorized exporters for the time being. However, three local and two foreign companies were shortlisted based on their bid. The three local companies are Ally Metals and Lumber Yard; Avinash Contracting and Scrap Metal Inc; Omai Transportation Equipment Services Inc; and Altruistic Services Ltd out of Singapore.
While the preference was for a foreign company, in order to prevent the export of metals, a local company turned up with the highest bid.
This newspaper understands that due diligence will be done on the companies.
Further, the authorities have developed a mechanism to prevent the export of stolen metal if a local company is given the work.
The memo stated, “The perfect objective would be to ensure that only the quantity and quality of metal taken from the estates is the quantity and quality for which export licences are issued. As far as quantities are concerned, it would seem unnecessary for any physical mechanisms to be in place to track the metal from point of purchase to the ship as if the dealers overstated the amount taken from the estates they would be obliged to pay for metal they did not get as SPU would have to certify the quantity taken. So long as the quantity shipped under the licence (as measured at the port by a competent authority) did not exceed the quantity for which payment was made to SPU, local dealer inventory quantities now banned from export would be unchanged.”
This newspaper had reported that GuySuCo bought billions of dollars in Fiat spare parts despite the fact that it stopped using Fiat tractors over a decade ago.

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