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City Hall says the Central Government has shut down its amnesty program on Rates and Taxes owed to the Council. Read its full statement below:
The Council at a statutory meeting in late September 2023, voted to offer citizens of Georgetown a period of amnesty on interest owed as a measure to raise funds to clear PAYE debts accrued at the Guyana Revenue Authority: this proactive measure was agreed to after the Mayor and executive finance members met with Commissioner General Mr. Godfrey Statia after the said statutory.
The PPP/C administration has steadfastly refused to honour central government financial obligations to the City Council, and this continues to stifle the work of maintaining and rebuilding the Garden City.
In blocking the attempts of the Council to meet its obligations to the GRA, the PPP/C are showing their true colours, this is the care they talk about; they are deliberately hampering the livelihoods, benefits, and well-being of staff and their families who are affected by the non-payment of their PAYE.
Efforts were made to discuss and resolve this absurd and unconscionable decision of the Honourable Minister but to no avail, as there is no law that speaks to his overreach!
I would like to remind the residents and property owners of Georgetown, who are now being denied the opportunity to regularize their historical issues with rates and taxes owed, of the warnings we, the APNU gave during the recent Local Government (Election) campaign. They (the PPP/C) want to control the City Council so that they can change laws and seize your properties for outstanding taxes.
”Please refer to a recent article in Sunday’s Chronicle, “Albousytown properties are the most attractive investment in Georgetown. “Hence there can be no mistaking the actions of the Junior Minister of Local Government, Hon. Anand Persaud, supported by other key Cabinet Ministers in Government.
The PPP/C is emboldened by their perceived gains in the last LGE 2023 elections and is now engaged in a long-term plan to get your properties into the hands of their investment friends, whom are seeking every square inch of the City’s landscape. It is the same old duplicitous PPP/C that says one thing but does another.
Your Worship the Mayor intends to call an emergency meeting of the Council and present all options available for democratic discussion and decisions on the way forward, including the adjudication of this matter in the High Court of the Supreme Court of the Judicature, if necessary.
