People’s National Congress Reform (PNC/R) General Secretary, Sherwin Benjamin once again denied that the PNC/R owes city hall an excess of $6 billion, as he continued to side step any questions about Maikwak, the company which owes City Hall billions, and also owns the property on which the PNCR Sophia headquarters is situated.
PNC/R General Secretary, Sherwin Benjamin
According to Benjamin he has no idea how much taxes the PNC/R owes the municipality, nonetheless he swears it’s not $6 billion.
“I don’t know at this point in time what the amount [of taxes owed] is… To answer the specific question of whether the PNC owes the council in excess of $6 billion tax, as General Secretary of this party, I’m unaware that we have such a debt. You know what rates and taxes are every year so I know that it isn’t… 6 billion,” Benjamin said.
Whatever the amount is, Benjamin says the PNC/R is looking forward to paying it.
“Once that information is presented to me, the PNC/R is a proud party, and we intend to pay our debts. We will pay what we have to pay, once it falls within the confines of the law; if there is any.”
Benjamin and other PNC/R executives again reiterated their support for reduced taxes to political parties, even as they argued for increased subventions from Central Government for Local Organs. They were at the time speaking during the PNC/R weekly virtual press conference.
It was pointed out to Benjamin that the PNC/R does not stand to benefit from tax waivers and reduction on its properties, given that the property is owned by the registered company, Maikwak.
However, on the question of the PNC/R’s connection to Maikwak, Benjamin maintained a lack of knowledge about the company, and was quick to dismiss any questions on the topic.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Benjamin said.
“I’m limiting my comments to the fact that political parties are given a different rate and I’m not sure whether what you’re talking about in respect of Maikwak being a holding company for the political party to which I belong. I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”
Asked if he throws his support for Maikwak to be entitled to the waivers, even though it is a company and not the political party, Benjamin answered in the affirmative.
“That’s a separate question, I don’t understand why the question is coming but if it requires, then so be it,” Benjamin said.
In September last year it was reported that, in light of revelations that the land where the PNCR’s Congress Place headquarter is located is owned by Maikwak, the largest party in the parliamentary opposition cannot benefit from the then recent move by the cash-strapped Georgetown Mayor and City Council (GM&CC) to reduce the taxes owed by political parties.
It was subsequently reported that the PNC/R had owned the City Council $6.7 billion in rates and taxes for Congress Place, and several more millions for other properties across the city owned by the Party. However, it was later disclosed that the land which houses Congress Place is not owned by the long-standing political party but by a company called Maikwak.
General Secretary of the ruling People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Dr Bharrat Jagdeo argued then that the opposition party would not be able to benefit from this new tax-reduction policy.
“Fine, if you [PNC] don’t owe any taxes, you may be right. It is Maikwak who owes the taxes, so Maikwak must pay. So, that means you can’t claim a 75 per cent reduction in your taxes,” Jagdeo contended.
According to the PPP/C’s General Secretary at the time, the big question now is who are principles of Maikwak, and whether the City Council will move against the company to recover the multi-billion-dollar taxes owed.
