| …CCJ to determine level of compensationGuyana admitted that it was wrong to unilaterally remove the Common External Tariff on cement originating from non-Caricom countries when the case came up at the Caribbean Court of Justice yesterday.Having received the admission, it is now left to the judges to decide on a suitable sum to compensate Trinidad Cement Limited (TCL).Presiding over the matter are Justice Michael De La Bastide and Justices Rolston Nelson,http://www.airmaxfantasy.us.com/Nike-Air-Pegasus/, Duke Pollard,Dion Dawkins Jersey, Adrian Saunders, Desiree Bernard,http://www.airmaxfantasy.us.com/Salomon/, Jacob Wit and David Hayton.Media reports out of Trinidad yesterday stated that lawyers representing Guyana made the admission,Atlanta Braves R.A. Dickey Jersey, during the first day of the hearing in Port of Spain.This means that Guyana conceded that it breached the Treaty of Chaguaramas.TCL moved to the CCJ to seek compensation for losses it incurred as a result of Guyana’s decision to remove the 15 percent tax from non-Caricom cement.During his submissions to the CCJ,http://www.theworldsoccersshop.com/Colombia-Pablo-Armero-Jersey.html, Guyana’s attorney,Ken Dryden Canadiens Jersey, Prof Keith Massiah SC, said that Guyana was not contesting the fact that it was guilty of wrongdoing in deciding to remove the 15 per cent tariff for cement originating outside of Caricom without the consensus of the member states of Caricom.CCJ Chief Justice Michael de la Bastide said the fact that the defendant was not contesting that it was in breach of the Treaty of Chaguaramas made the proceedings a little easier.As a result of this admission, the court is not moving to determine whether there was wrongdoing but instead, the extent of damage done to TCL as a result of Guyana’s unilateral decision in 2006.Attorney, Claude Denbow SC,D.J.Fluker Chargers Jersey, who represented TCL and its subsidiary,Evgeny Svechnikov Red Wings Jersey, said the admission shows a total contempt for the Treaty of Chaguaramas on Guyana’s part. TCL is claiming compensation for loss of income suffered in its capacity as 80 per cent shareholder in TCL Guyana (TGI) in the amount of US$532,214 for the period January to December 2007.It is also claiming compensation for lost profits suffered as a direct result of Guyana’s failure to implement the Common External Tariff on building cement in the sum of US$2,Sheyi Ojo Liverpool Jersey UK,084,540 for the period of January to December 2007 and continuing.TCL is also claiming damages, interest at whatever rate and for whatever period the court deems fit and also wants the court to order that the costs of the proceedings be paid by Guyana.The US$10M investment was part of a loan package of US$105M obtained from the International Finance Corporation in Washington DC to expand and modernise TCL plants in Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago.The company has argued that after a further suspension of the CET from 2004 to 2006, TCL/ TGI approached the government.In 2007 after they did not get any results they moved in 2007 to the Caricom Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED).A five-man delegation left Guyana on Sunday last to defend the law suit which the CCJ had granted leave to file in January last. |
