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Another company sues GGMC over quarry licence distribution
Kaieteur News – Another lawsuit was served on the Commissioner of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), Newell Dennison, and the Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat, over the cancellation of a quarry licence.
Natural Resources Minister, Vickram Bharrat.
It was last June that a similar lawsuit against GGMC and Commissioner Dennison, was served over the distribution of 16,500 acres of State lands for quarry operations to Hadi’s World Inc.
According to this latest lawsuit, which was filed by attorney, Siand Dhurjon, on behalf of Benjamin’s Marine and Salvage Services Inc. (BMSSI), the Commissioner of the GGMC, is being sued for his alleged illegal cancellation of BMSSI’s quarry licence.
The lawsuit explained that the licence was granted on June 19, 2017, but on April 17, 2021, the Commissioner cancelled BMSSI’s licence without following the mandatory statutory procedure under Section 52 of the Mining Act.
The lawsuit also explained that the Commissioner’s decision was made on February 18, 2021 to hand BMSSI’s quarrying rights to an unknown company called ‘York Investment Inc.’ before BMSSI was ever notified of the GGMC’s intent to cancel its licence. The lawsuit outlined that in March 2021 a terse letter was sent by GGMC Commissioner to BMSSI outlining 10 breaches of BMSSI obligations under its quarry licence.
Among the breaches highlighted was that of outstanding royalty payments, which BMSSI claimed the Commissioner was refusing to collect.
GGMC Commissioner, Newel Dennison.
The other breaches, the company claimed were either non-existent or trivial, in that the Commissioner took steps to intentionally deprive BMSSI of its licence to clear the way for York Investments Inc. to benefit from the quarry rights to the land.
As such the lawsuit claims that “the actions of the Commissioner of the GGMC, the GGMC, and the Minister of Natural Resources to achieve the cancellation of the quarry licence of BMSSI and the intended grant to York of a licence overlaying the same areas held by BMSSI are disproportionate, in breach of their statutory duty, arbitrary, a nullity, of no legal effect, ultra vires, unreasonable, irrational, unfair, an abuse of power, unconstitutional, whimsical, capricious, contrary to legitimate expectation, against their own policy and without any legal foundation or authority.”
BMSSI’s attorney has since explained in the document that, accordingly, the GGMC or its Commissioner cannot unilaterally cancel a quarry licence, but rather the law requires that the licence holder must first be notified of the reasons for an intended cancellation and be given 30 days to rectify any default or breaches it may be guilty of.
He said that after any attempts to make good on its breaches and any representations by the licence holder, there must be reconsideration by the GGMC and its Commissioner as to whether the licence should be cancelled.
According to the attorney, the law requires that a licence may not be cancelled for non-payment of royalties if those royalties have been paid off before the 30-day period.
Dhurjon said BMSSI explained that although it was in default of paying royalties for four years, on many occasions from April 2020 to March 2021, it sought to pay its royalties.
“BMSSI went as far as to write a letter to the Commissioner on 25th March, 2021 sending a cheque of $1,191,120 to satisfy the arrears of outstanding rentals but the Commissioner replied refusing the cheque and its payment in flagrant breach of the Mining Act,” the lawyer claimed.
He said further that when officers of BMSSI would go to pay the rentals at the GGMC, the staff would tell them that they were given instructions not to accept any royalty payments from BMSSI.
The lawsuit also went in depth to explain that if indeed the quarry licence was properly cancelled by the Commissioner, the quarry rights to the State lands held under the licence should have been “held in reserve for disposal by a process of bidding or lottery of which the general public shall be advised” but such public process was never embarked upon. Instead York Investment Inc. was specially chosen for the grant of the quarry licence.
A date is expected to be set shortly in the Supreme Court for a hearing of the matter.
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