ATTORNEY General (AG) and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, has asserted that a proposed tax amnesty by the Georgetown Mayor and City Council lacks legal standing.
The amnesty aims to raise funds to pay a judgement owed to the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA).

Attorney General Nandlall made this statement during his ‘Issues in the News’ programme on Tuesday evening.
He explained that the Minister of Local Government, Anand Persaud, requested information from the Town Clerk after learning of the proposed amnesty.
He said the minister sought to determine if the amnesty complies with financial regulations governing the council.
“Those requirements or that request, which were made of the town clerk are all requirements of the law contained in the relevant provisions of the Municipal and District Council Act by which the Georgetown Mayor and City Council is bounded.” he said.

However, Mayor Alfred Mentore has accused the government of trying to bankrupt the city council and purportedly sell city properties to government supporters.
Attorney General Nandlall dismissed the claims as “asinine” and “divisive,” labelling them baseless as he criticised the mayor for making such allegations.
The AG said the government was seeking full compliance in accordance with the law.
“Every agency of state and of government and every individual in the country must comply with the laws of the land. The city council is not above the law.”
Against this backdrop, he said: “But if he wishes, he can go ahead and violate the law and grant the amnesty. And then the law will have to take its course because someone will be held responsible for all the monies waived.”

Alfred Mentore, Mayor of Georgetown, threatened to take the Central Government to court on Saturday for obstructing an amnesty that the municipality had hoped to use to raise funds to pay off income tax debts owed to the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA).

This comes after the Local Government Minister earlier instructed the Georgetown Mayor and City Council (M&CC) to halt its decision to grant amnesty to defaulting tax payers to demonstrate whether its decision is in accordance with Section 163 of Municipal and Local Government Act. (Credit: Melissa Gordon)