High Court rules in favour of company owned by Trinidadian

ACTING Chief Justice Roxane George, S.C., on Friday ruled in favour of Trinidadian-owned Ramps Logistics, which had sold 51 per cent of its shares to a Trinidadian native who is of Guyanese parentage.

Justice George, in her ruling, ordered the Local Content Secretariat (LCS) to issue a local content certificate to Ramps Logistics Guyana by noon on November 14.
The logistics company which was incorporated in 2013 and is parented by Ramps Logistics Limited out of Trinidad and Tobago, had moved to the court arguing that its application for the certificate was unlawfully denied.

The historic Local Content Act, which was enacted in December 2021, paved the way for establishment of the secretariat which falls under the purview of the Ministry of Natural Resources.
The secretariat is responsible for developing and maintaining measures for the effective implementation of local content by contractors, sub-contractors and licensees.

The secretariat is required to ensure the development and implementation of strategies that give preferences to, or ensure equal treatment of Guyanese nationals and companies.
Ramps, through Senior Counsel Edward Luckhoo and attorney C.V Satram, had sought several orders to force the LCS to issue the document.
The other respondents in the case are the Minister of Natural Resources and the Attorney General.

The acting Chief Justice found that Ramps had satisfied the statutory requirements and/or pre-conditions necessary for the grant of and/or issuance of the certificate.
In June, the LCS, after reviewing the company’s application, had determined that the information submitted was insufficient for a proper compliance evaluation to be done by the secretariat in accordance with the requirements of the Act.

It was reported earlier this year that some 51 per cent of the company was sold to Trinidadian businessman, Deepak Lall, for G$210 million. The Guyana Chronicle understands that Lall has never represented Ramps Logistics publically at any of its press conferences, and Trinidadian, Shaun Rampersad, remains the face of the company.

Last month, Rampersad was released on $500,000 bail for 10 charges of false declarations made over the past two years to the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA).
Rampersaud pleaded not guilty to the charges. He will return to court on November 25.