GT Mayor refutes claim that Council’s new rate policy is to help clear billions owed by PNCR

Aug 31, 2024 News

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– but provides no proof

Kaieteur News – City Mayor Alfred Mentore assures that the new Institutional Rate Policy implemented by the City Council is not geared towards helping the Peoples National Congress Reform (PNCR) clear its debt to the Council. However, Mentore has been unable to provide evidence to support this.

In an invited comment the City Mayor said the financial information of the party is one which he is not at liberty to divulge.

“It’s not for me to divulge such confidential info, but checking the records, there is no account in the name of the Peoples National Congress that speaks to it owing $6.7 billion dollars,” the Mayor said.

The PNCR treasurer, Elson Lowe also shied away from clarifying whether the party has paid its taxes. He told Kaieteur News, “We’re not in the practice of putting the party’s financial information in the public domain.”

This is even after the ruling People Progressive Party Civic (PPPC) posted a receipt on its social media platform clarifying that the party’s rates and taxes have been paid.

Vice President (VP) Bharrat Jagdeo accused the Georgetown Mayor & City Council (M&CC) of introducing ‘Institutional Rate Policy’ with the sole purpose of helping the opposition party clear the billions of dollars it owes in back taxes.

During a press conference on Wednesday, Jagdeo told reporters that his party’s Councillors have rejected the move because the reason for the tax reduction was to cushion the taxes owed by the opposition.

“…We dug a bit deeper and it seems as though there is a specific reason for this proposal. Congress Place owes $6.7B, and a demand notice was sent to them for this money. So how do you get your rates and taxes for $6.7B…That is a huge sum so clearly, they have not been paying for a very long time and therefore the interest has accrued and therefore they now have to pay this huge sum of money,” the VP explained.

Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall had also criticised the Council’s move. During his weekly programme ‘Issues in the News’ on Tuesday evening, he described the decision as a “vulgar and shameless act,”

“The Georgetown Mayor & City Council (M&CC) cannot even afford to pick up the garbage from the residents of Georgetown without a subvention from the government, they cannot repair their home which is the City Hall without a subvention from the government, they cannot discharge most of their duties without a subvention,” he said.

Nandlall said the reduction or exemption of rates and taxes should be directed to the less fortunate instead of political parties.

“Obviously the PNC and the AFC owe rates and taxes that they cannot afford to pay and they get their acolytes at City Hall to move a motion to write off their indebtedness and these people are seriously contesting to be the next government of this country and these people are talking about accountability and transparency and they’re getting their acolytes in there to write off their rates and taxes,” the Attorney General said.

However, Mayor Mentore has defended the decision pointing out that M&CC is lawfully empowered to exempt political parties from paying rates.

“We have a document that has classified political parties in existence for more than ten years as ‘social and welfare institutions,’ allowing them to be exempted from paying rates and taxes or at least reclassifying those rates to “institutional rates” under the Municipal and District Council’s Act,” Mentore explained.

Notably, he said the Municipal and District Council Act, Section 214 states that: A Council shall have power to exempt from liability to pay rates either wholly or in part for any property used for the advancement of religion, education or social welfare, not with a view to profit.

According to Mentore, the law also covers facility used for sports or healthy institutions while leaving the power to the Minister of Local Government to designate any other property for exemption.

Meanwhile, on Friday, the PNCR chose not to address queries regarding the alleged $6.7 billion debt in rates and taxes owed to the Georgetown City Council for their Sophia headquarters, at the party’s weekly press conference.

Neither PNCR’s Chairman Shurwayne Holder nor Treasurer Low responded to the question when asked. The party made it clear that the press conference will only address issues raised in the statement which was based on infrastructure and the Gas-to-Energy project.

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• billion owed, council’s new rate policy, GT Mayor, PNCR

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