Goes after international investor BaiShanLin for $80M? – Teixeira

Billions in out-of-court settlements

The Guyana Government has forked out billions of dollars to pay out-of-court settlements, but has moved to seize forestry concessions controlled by BaiShanLin International Forestry Development Inc (BIFDI) over an $80 million debt – a situation that has raised eyebrows in the Opposition People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C)
Chief Whip Gail Teixeira on Tuesday, weighing in on the unfolding saga involving the Chinese logging company that had been introduced to Guyana during the previous Administration, said that the coalition Government would do well to be cautious in the signals it sends to international investors.
She said this was even more pronounced since in the 16 months that the Administration has been in office, it has managed to bring in no international investor.
The former Home Affairs Minister was adamant, however, that the rule of law in the land must be adhered to and that she was not in any

way, on the part of the Opposition, advising a free-for-all and anarchy with regard to BaiShanLin’s operations in Guyana. “However, Governments have to be careful on how it treats with contracts entered”.
The Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) – in terminating the Joint Venture agreements with five local companies and BaiShanLin – had pointed to a breach of the Forestry Act, with regard to the transfer of shares to the Chinese logging company. The GFC also said, in its public statement, that the decision on repossessing the concessions came after BaiShanLin “failed to deliver on agreed actions to introduce investors to the Commission and having been given time to prove that it had an acceptable plan to clear an approximately GY$80 million debt”.
According to Teixeira, where investors are not in compliance, then Government is within its remit to take measures to correct the situation.
She suggested that if the company was in fact in breach of local laws, then Government must act, but it must also be careful as to the signals being sent.
Teixeira used the opportunity to recall when the PPP/C took office in 1992, it had been faced with a contract that was inked with Omai Gold Mines that had been unfavourable to Government.
She said the then President, Dr Cheddi Jagan, went about soliciting international legal advice on how to deal with the matter and it was found to be best in the end, to leave the contract to run its course, since terminating the agreement would have had significant untoward fallout.
“We were advised that under international law, we would be caught up in conundrum of legal cases we could not afford,” Teixeira reminded.
She said at the time Government determined that it would have been best to let the agreement run its course, but to ensure that Omai Gold Mines adhered strictly to the rules, laws and regulations.
According to Teixeira, “with BaiShanLin, I don’t want to get into the details….I would hope that Government looked at the issue in the broadest sense”.
She did seek to question the rationale of the Government in taking a ‘high-handed’ approach with BaiShanLin, when it was able to work out several out-of-court settlements to the tune of billions, specifically with Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) and BK International.
She questioned if this was the approach taken by Government with regard to DDL and BK, why some arrangement could not have been worked out with BaiShanLin.
The Opposition Chief Whip was adamant, however, that the current Administration has managed to introduce not one single new investment in this country in the past 16 months and the wisdom of its recent actions would be illustrated in future since “we will see what are repercussions”.