The President pointed to a relationship between the Chief Executive Officer of TCL and the regional court’s trust fund saying that the CEO of the company also chairs the Trust Fund of the CCJ. This, he said, was discussed in caucus during the Caricom Heads of Government meeting held here in August, noting concerns were raised.
Dr. Michael Anthony Lilla, the CCJ’s Protocol & Information Officer informed this newspaper when contacted yesterday that he was advised the court may not comment on the President’s statement.
President Jagdeo spoke on the TCL issue briefly during a press conference yesterday at the International Confer-ence Centre, Liliendaal.
He then made the disclosure saying regional leaders were concerned about the conflict of interest that existed between “the person who chairs the CCJ Trust Fund and who came into regular contact with the court [and] is also the CEO of TCL”. He said also that TCL’s move to the CCJ was seen as a conflict of interest by the regional heads meeting in Guyana, adding “the heads concluded that this is conflict of interest”.
Guyana’s position as it regards the Common External Tariff (CET) on cement has not changed based on the President’s statement yesterday; he told reporters that government has initiated a process with Caricom, which is that they have asked for a certain course of action. The course of action to which the President hinted is that Guyana has sought a waiver from the regional Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED), which is yet to officially respond.
According to Jagdeo, a decision was taken sometime ago by regional heads that they remove the CET from all goods that achieve international competitiveness. “As far as I am concerned, cement has achieved this”, the President said, before charging that TCL has been duplicitous.
He stated that TCL continues to argue it can supply the local market yet in other bilateral discussions it has agreed that other countries can import cement. Read More....
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