– Mayor says Beepat’s attack on him is another attempt to deflect from his evasion of taxes
By Svetlana Marsha
MCG Investments Inc. (Giftland Mall) owes the Georgetown Mayor and City Council, $114,797,812 in taxes, though its owner and chairman, Roy Beepat, has repeatedly said his company is tax compliant.
Last Friday, Beepat told reporters that “in every tax we are compliant,” as he launched a vicious attack on the City Mayor, Ubraj Narine. “Giftland pays its taxes; Giftland has always paid its taxes; Giftland has never shy away from paying its taxes,” he told reporters.
But the Council’s records tell a different story. According to a Statement of Accounts seen by Village Voice News, the Giftland Mall, located on a portion of Block XXX, Turkeyen, is in arrears, with $49.5M due in taxes pre-2020 and another $11.4M in demand for 2020. The interest as at November 25, 2020 is $53.8M, bringing the overall total owed to $114.7M.
Describing the City Mayor as a “fraud,” “political animal, ” Beepat told reporters that there were attempts to negotiate a settlement for taxes owed prior to 2020, however, the Mayor has turned it into a political issue.
But Mayor Narine, in a statement on Wednesday, said Beepat is attempting to deflect from MCG Investments Inc’s quagmire of blatant tax evasion.
“Mr. Beepat’s statement is another attempt to his George Orwellian perspective to perform a civic duty clearly shows that he has no respect for the Mayor and City Councillors of Georgetown and neither the constituents. It is obvious that he wishes to act oblivious to the fact that the Mayor and City Council is run primarily on taxes,” the Mayor said.
Narine said Beepat’s deliberate attempt to discredit his ability to perform as Mayor of Georgetown is a clear attempt to divert from his civic duty as a citizen and businessman. The City Mayor, in cautioning Beepat about making ludicrous aspersions about him, said the businessman should swiftly exercise his civic duty and pay up his taxes.
“The Council and constituents are waiting on you,” Mayor Narine said.
The City Mayor has been critical of Government’s decision to have the Giftland Mall supply the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) with electricity, when the company has defaulted on the payment of taxes.
