–Mayor says deal met for party to pay just $30M

GEORGETOWN’S City Council has cleared the way for the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) to settle a multi-billion-dollar rates and taxes bill tied to its Sophia headquarters for a fraction of what is owed, with Mayor Alfred Mentore confirming the party has agreed to pay roughly $30 million instead.
The debt is linked to Congress Place, the PNCR’s headquarters, which sits on land held by Maikwak Limited, a company tied to the party that has for some time been at the centre of a running dispute over unpaid rates and taxes.
Mayor Mentore, in an invited comment to the Guyana Chronicle, described the $30 million figure as “the sum agreed upon” between the party and City Hall, while not stating exactly how much was initially owed by the party.
Further, the mayor was not clear under which arrangement Maikwak benefited from the waiver, as there exists the APNU-backed council passage of the policy document on institutional rates to be given to political parties, and the 2021 High Court ruling that it was “unconscionable” to charge compound interest instead of simple interest.
Importantly, however, in July this year, the council implemented the High Court decision retroactively to 1997 but clearly stated that those persons who had already paid accumulated debts calculated on compound interest would not benefit.
The scale of the debt first became public when People’s Progressive Party (PPP) General Secretary and Vice-President, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, told a press conference at Freedom House that the property owed the council in excess of $6.7 billion, a bill he said had swollen over years of non-payment and accumulating interest.
“How do you get rates and taxes up to $6.7 billion?” Jagdeo asked.
He also disclosed that the PNCR owes a further $1.2 million, $988,000 and $3.5 million on three other properties around the city.
Jagdeo made the disclosure while responding to a decision at that time by PNCR councillors to push through a new institutional rates policy for political parties, which he characterised as a party using its grip on the council to lighten its own tax burden.
Party officials declined to directly confirm the size of the debt, and questions about Maikwak’s exact relationship to the party’s finances went largely unanswered.
The policy, laid before the council at a statutory meeting, was immediately opposed by the PPP/C’s 11 councillors, who said they had not been consulted and were blindsided by how quickly it moved through City Hall.
Mentore has defended the arrangement as consistent with past practice rather than special treatment.
He said properties and areas across the city, including parts of Sophia, have received similar arrangements or reduced rates under decisions taken by past and present councils, on condition that owners still paid a negotiated amount rather than being excused entirely.
He pointed to Giftland and other properties in the wider community as examples, saying reduced rates only take effect once a property is formally added to the council’s list, and claimed that Congress Place’s arrangement follows that same pattern. In the same breath, however, he said they are not exempted from paying rates and taxes.
Councillors Alfonso De Armas, Patricia Chase-Greene and Steven Jacobs had previously rejected talks about waiving taxes for political parties.
Chase-Greene, a former mayor, had said every political party should pay its rates and taxes just as ordinary citizens are required to, and questioned the fairness of a council that regularly says it cannot afford basic services now giving up revenue owed by parties.
Jacobs, a PPP member on the council, said his obligation was to Georgetown’s residents rather than his party, calling it ironic that a PNCR-led council constantly appeals for financial help while easing the burden on itself.
The dispute unfolds against the backdrop of a City Hall that has for years struggled to pay its own staff, maintain drainage and garbage collection, and recover unpaid rates from a wide pool of delinquent property owners across Georgetown.
Leader of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) Aubrey Norton had recently said that his party activated its business arm to bring in much-need money.
Demerara Waves quoted Norton as saying at an event, “We know that finance needs to be raised and that is critical and it is for that reason, the party now has a business arm that is proceeding with our investment.”