Black Immigrant Daily News

The Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) has won a court battle against SOL Guyana Inc., and the fuel importer will now have to pay to the GRA a whopping $2.7 billion in taxes owed for fuel importation.

In a statement issued on Thursday, GRA said the judgment was obtained against the company for corporation tax owed to the tune of $2,713,212,251, together with penalties and interest applicable until the debt has been completely paid.

It has been revealed that in another matter involving GRA and SOL, a High Court Judge had last Friday refused an application made by the fuel importer for an Order seeking an extension of time to file a corporate tax appeal against the Revenue Authority in relation to taxes calculated in several Years of Assessment that were raised and maintained pursuant to the provisions of the Income and Corporation Tax Acts.

The Court ruled that SOL Guyana Inc. failed to satisfy the precondition for a tax appeal, as set out by Section 98 of the Income Tax Act. The Revenue Authority had argued, among other things, that the company has no right of appeal under Section 86 of the said Act, and that no extension of time beyond the lapse of the statutory period could be considered where there is no right of appeal.

Further, the Court has ruled that “the full payment of disputed taxes or the lodging of a bond or a guarantee to the satisfaction of the Commissioner-General is a precondition before the right of appeal against an assessment under the Income Tax Act can be exercised.”

Moreover, it was found by the Court that Sol’s failure to secure and place a bond before the Commissioner-General for him to determine whether or not it is to his satisfaction, pursuant to Section 98, at the time they requested one to be lodged, has frustrated the Company’s right of appeal in the circumstances.

Back in March of this year, it was revealed that GRA was investigating SOL for importing and clearing millions of litres of fuel at duty-free rates for ExxonMobil’s local affiliate, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL), but was failing to deliver the fuel to the oil company. EEPGL is entitled to tax exemption on fuel imported for its operations.At the time, GRA had claimed that SOL owed $2.6 billion in taxes by abusing EEPGL’s exemption letters.

“SOL Guyana Inc. utilised EEPGL’s tax exemption letters to import and enter quantities of Gasoil…at a lower rate of Excise Tax, and failed to deliver the full amounts to [EEPGL] as required…This act in itself is a flagrant disregard of the laws administered, and the Revenue Authority will not condone and allow the Government revenues to be used as ‘turnovers’ or in any such manner,” Stabroek News had quoted from a letter, dated March 9, sent to SOL from GRA.

Further reports at the time had revealed that SOL had allegedly committed similar acts; that is, by failing to deliver the full quantities of fuel it imported for other major companies operating in Guyana.

SOL had denied the accusations made by GRA, saying in a subsequent statement that “…SOL categorically denies these false, highly misleading, and damaging allegations.”Moreover, the fuel importer had noted that it has worked collaboratively with GRA and has systems in place to ensure its compliance at all times.

NewsAmericasNow.com

Black Immigrant Daily News

– Advertisement –

The Minister of Health, Wellness and Elderly Affairs Hon. Moses Jn. Baptiste and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Sharon Belmar-George attended the 30th Pan American Sanitary Conference, 74th session of the regional committee of the WHO for the Americas in Washington DC, USA from September 26-30, 2022.

The conference discussed PAHO’s Program budget 2022-2023 and the preliminary report of the End of the biennium Assessment of the PAHO Budget 2020-2021.

The Director of PAHO, Dr. Carissa Etienne submitted the Quinquennial Report 2018-2022 and the report on Health in the Americas.

Several important technical and program matters were also discussed which included Mental Health policy, Policy on recovering progress towards the sustainable development goals with equity through action on the social determinants of health and intersectoral work, Policy on Integrated Care for improved health outcomes and a plan of action for Cervical Cancer.

– Advertisement –

During this conference, the COVID-19 Pandemic was discussed and Monkey Pox update on the region. The Saint Lucian delegation actively participated with numerous interventions by the Hon. Minister Moses Jn. Baptiste.

Given that this is the supreme governing authority of PAHO, a new Director of the Pan American Sanitary Bureau for the period 2023-2028 was elected on Wednesday September 28, 2022.

The Government of Saint Lucia and the Ministry of Health, Wellness and Elderly Affairs welcomes and congratulates Dr. Jarbas Barbosa Da Silva Jr. of Brazil on his successful election.

The Hon. Minister also got the opportunity during the conference to thank Dr. Carissa Etienne on behalf of Saint Lucia for her sterling leadership in public health during her 2 terms in office.

SOURCE: Ministry of Health. Headline photo: Dr. Carissa Etienne addresses conference

– Advertisement –

NewsAmericasNow.com

Black Immigrant Daily News

The University of West Indies (UWI) has announced that all new incoming undergraduates will have to learn a foreign language.

On Thursday, UWI stated that a Foreign Language Policy has been approved for its five regional campuses and is being implemented.

According to the Pro Vice-Chancellor for Undergraduate Studies, Professor Justin Robinson, “Going forward, the expectation is that all UWI graduates will be at least conversation competent in a language other than English.”

The UWI currently has teaching and learning departments on its campuses that produce substantial numbers of graduates with specialised foreign language degrees. Majors and minors in French, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, Chinese (Mandarin) and teaching competencies in others like Arabic, German, Hindi, Korean, and Yoruba have long been commonplace. The introduction of this policy, however, will now see all students participating in foreign language training at a general level.

This seminal policy development for The UWI, as a top-ranked global university, advances its compliance with best practices in teaching and learning found in elite-ranked cohorts.

Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles noted that the “Significant change will enable the further regional and global mobility and empowerment of graduates. Foreign language proficiency will no longer be a major impediment to employment amongst our graduates in the global world.”

“This is a fundamental change that will transform the identity of UWI students and graduates and will provide more relevant graduates to serve as a development platform for the new, more modern, and globally competitive Caribbean economy,” Vice-Chancellor Beckles further elaborated.

The UWI Foreign Language Policy is being implemented on a phased, Faculty-by-Faculty and campus-by-campus basis, beginning in the academic year 2022/2023 with applicability to new incoming undergraduate students only.

Universal coverage and participation of all students are anticipated within the next three academic years. Flexible access and easy learning is the pedagogical principle, with students having the option of self-tutoring or guided instruction. They will have the full duration of their academic programme to acquire language competence. Those coming into the university with prior competence shall be exempt from this requirement.

NewsAmericasNow.com

Black Immigrant Daily News

 Appel à la “responsabilité”: la cheffe du gouvernement Elisabeth Borne a appelé vendredi directions et syndicats des groupes pétroliers à sortir de la crise et mettre fin aux grèves qui provoquent depuis plusieurs jours de graves problèmes d’approvisionnement.

NewsAmericasNow.com

Black Immigrant Daily News

It is Friday, October 7, 2022 and House of Parliament in the Cayman Islands will meet and members of Parliament are expected to vote on a motion of no confidence in the ruling PACT government.

If two thirds of elected members vote “yes” for the motion, it will pass.

The private member’s motion for the vote of no confidence in the Speaker of Parliament, however, was still being debated as of yesterday.

According to the Deputy Speaker, who was asked to make a decision to accept or refuse that motion, her position stated in a letter dated October 6 is that:

The Cayman Islands Parliament Standing Orders 24(5) provides that “no Member shall make a motion unless that Member has given notice in writing of that motion either at some previous sitting of the House, or to the Clerk, not less than five clear days prior to the commencement of the meeting of the House at which such motion is to be made.

The Notice received from the Clerk dated 9 September 2022 (attached herewith for your ease of reference) expressly excludes the weekends in the calculation of the 5 clear days.

In my opinion, this said Standing Order, when viewed together with the usage and practice of our Parliament in calculating the 5 clear days, the said Motion would be deemed as out of time for this Meeting.

In other words, while the notice was received by the Clerk of Parliament on Friday September 30, the Deputy Speaker’s position of yesterday means that Friday, September 30, Saturday, October 1, Sunday, October 2 and Friday October 7 are not counted towards satisfying the five clear days’ notice period requirement. Based on this count, only Monday to Thursday, being four clear days, are counted and therefore, the Deputy Speaker determined that the notice was “out of time”.

The Leader of the Opposition, however, disagrees with the position of the Deputy Speaker. The Leader of the Opposition said that the Deputy Speaker’s ruling is patently wrong because the five clear days’ notice period must be interpreted in accordance with the Interpretation Act.

Quoting the Interpretation Act, the Leader of the Opposition said:

The provisions of the Interpretation Act supersede any usage or practice of our Parliament in calculating the 5 clear days.

It thus follows that in computing the notice period for the Lack of Confidence in the Speaker motion, you do not count Friday 30 September (the date the motion was filed) or Sunday (an excluded day) or Friday 7 (the date of commencement of the Meeting). However, you must count Saturday 1 October, Monday 3 October, Tuesday 4 October, Wednesday 5 October and Thursday 6 October. That gives 5 clear days and thus the Motion should be accepted as it is in full compliance with all relevant Standing Orders.

The Leader of the Opposition has therefore asked the Deputy Speaker to reconsider her decision not to allow the Lack of Confidence in the Speaker motion to proceed when Parliament commences today, October 7, 2022.

NewsAmericasNow.com