Giftland’s owner questions BiShanLin, Movie Towne investments

— calls for level playing field

Businessman and Chairman of MCG Investments (Giftland Mall), Roy Beepat, is calling on the A Partnership

for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government to provide a level playing field for investors in Guyana.
Beepat has made the call, even as Chinese logging company BaiShanLin is advertising the advent of an international mall. The advertisement can be seen at the arrival lounge of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport.
According to Beepat, Government needs to be fair to local investment companies, whose revenues are being pumped into the country’s economy.
“In fairness to our investment and parity between local investment and international enterprises such as these, it is important that a level playing field, I would find it abhorrent if it is a case that multibillion international companies should be treated with preferential treatment and unfair trading advantages over local companies,” Beepat said in a letter to the editor.
He is therefore seeking responses from both the Guyana Revenue Authority and the Finance Ministry.
“As the Chairman of MCG Investments Inc, the owners of the Giftland Mall, I am concerned and I am kindly publicly requesting from the Finance Ministry and GRA Commissioner, who I do not hold accountable in any way, the details of these two mentioned investments which were concluded before their control of these two Government departments.”
According to Beepat, the Giftland Mall did not benefit from any concessions from the previous People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Administration in terms of duty-fee, Value Added Tax (VAT) waivers, tax holidays, tax exemptions of any sorted.
The Chinese logging company, which is currently under review by the Government State Assets Recovery Unit (SARU), has been at the centre of controversies over the years it has been operating in Guyana.
It had come under tremendous fire for what has been deemed is illegal logging operations in the country and has been accused of enjoying billions of dollars in concessions.
The Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) has over the last few months been clamping down on tax including BaiShanLin. The Chinese logging company allegedly has over $50 million outstanding in duties, which it failed to pay within the stipulated time frame.