OPINION: PNC tax backlog: clear the air, leave no unanswered questions

Last Updated on Saturday, 31 August 2024, 15:56 by Writer

By GHK Lall

The PNC must speak straight and speak true. The PNC cannot speak like Vice President Jagdeo when a direct question is put to it, with a shave here, a shove there, and a slice somewhere else. Does it owe any taxes to the Municipality of Georgetown? The party gave a loud, unequivocal NO. Thanks for that clarity. But that transfer of the lands to Maikwak has come in for its own fire. Does Maikwak now owe the $6.7B to City Hall? On this the PNC shouldn’t shift from foot to foot, or retreat into silence. If it does owe billions in taxes, as stated with considerable confidence by VP Jagdeo, what are its plans and arrangements to resolve the matter? Whatever the amount owed, if any at all, what does the party intend to do about it?

It does not help that a clear, straight answer on the $6.7B tax bombshell has shifted from the PNC itself into the blankness of Maikwak, and right there in Sophia. I am all for confidential relative to certain matters, but there are some things that still must be said to set the record straight. If Maikwak is due some concession or exemption, then the documentation would help. Also, confidentiality has its time and place, but it must stop being seen as some sacred, all-purpose shelter as when answering uncomfortable questions can lead to the potential disclosure of inconvenient truths. The PPP Government and some of its more sparkling luminaries have rushed for cover inside the sanctuary of confidential when to speak to truth about national matters would expose its underbelly and possibly some type of skullduggery. Or it settled for silence. The claims of clean, transparent government and leadership have suffered from this seeking of the safe harbor of confidentiality. Or silence. So, when I read of this development about Maikwak coming out of PNC spokespeople, it does not sit right, falls short. The PPP Government and its players cannot be roundly denounced for hiding behind smokescreens when the hard issues of the day are raised, but the PNC held to a different standard. Through silence. Through some verbal maneuver. Through what looks like an unpersuasive head fake. Wrong once, wrong twice.

I think that this stand from Jagdeo about $6.7B owed by the PNC (Maikwak) to the Georgetown City Council demands a clean response, represents a good start. I could pause if the actual amount owed is not shared currently. A case could be made for some degree of confidentiality, but it can’t be open-ended. I assert this because the PNC is not some run-of the mill, fly-by-night presence in Guyana. The PNC is a major national presence, the national government more than once. This makes it the farthest thing from a regular mom-and-pop corner shop. With that highest former national presence [a government] and its status as the major opposition political group (a government-in-waiting, should there be alignment of the stars, and the Americans so inclined), as backdrop, the onus is on the PNC to get this issue sorted out convincingly and publicly. In other words, Maikwak cannot serve as shield or dead-end. The confidential status that is due other ordinary presences in Guyana cannot apply in this situation. The answer about the PNC not owing those taxes is welcomed. But pointing to Maikwak does not conclude this matter.

In the interests of plain truths and the transparencies that go along with those, this $6.7B issue [and Maikwak] must be told. The longer that this alleged tax arrears dangles unanswered in the face of Guyanese, the worse odor it assumes. I believe that the party has already put the wrong foot forward in how it has dealt with this startling development. Should it persist with what I believe is a losing approach, the only thing that it succeeds in doing is digging a bigger hole for itself. Separately, , my concern is how does a responsible organization of the national standing of the PNC reach this stage of an alleged $6.7B rates and taxes backlog. If the amount is in the neighborhood (wherever it applies), I wonder how negligent or cavalier it could have been about something of this nature. An amount of $6.7B must involve a good number of years. Unless there is a significant set of property spread across the municipality’s area of authority. Either way, this doesn’t look good and calls for immediate comment that goes to the heart of the matter. To repeat: taxes are owed or not owed by Maikwak. If owed, efforts are underway to clear up the situation. The PPP Government loves to smirk and snarl about proof when cornered with allegations of wrongdoing or failure. The PNC is best advised not to go down that road.

This brings me to the development coming out of the Georgetown City Council. I just say that it is certainly timely, a nice late August surprise that benefits one political group currently. No names should be needed. The now successful motion to change from commercial to institutional rate seems to be less than upright, even of what is straight. This adds more fuel to the fire and blows some smoke in the face. As the moves go, this fall flat on its behind, leave all involved (including likely beneficiaries) looking underhanded and all about what is self-centered and of self-interest. We must start somewhere in walking the straight line with straight stories and straight talk. If not, all that there would be is the usual six-for-nine that has become such a feature in Guyana. From leadership to governance to oil to statistics to taxes to public disclosures. We continue this way, and all Guyana would ever be is a society and country forever embroiled in controversies, riddled with accusations, and going nowhere.