November 11 set for arguments in RAMPS case challenging denial of local content certificate

Chief Justice (ag) Roxane George on November 11 will commence hearing oral arguments in the case filed by Ramps Logistics over the denial by the Local Content Secretariat to grant the company a local content certificate.

The company had moved to the court for judicial review. The respondents in the case are the Minster of Natural Resources, the Local Content Secretariat (LCS), and the Attorney General.

On Thursday, Solicitor General Nigel Hawke asked the court for more time to file submissions on behalf of the State. This was met with no objections from Ramps’ attorney, Senior Counsel Edward Luckhoo.

The Chief Justice after fixing timelines for submissions adjourned the case until November 11 at 13:15 for the hearing of oral arguments.

In its lawsuit, the logistics company that migrated from Trinidad is contending that the State’s decision to deny its application for entry on the Local Content Register and non-issuance of the Certificate of Local Content Registration, is “unlawful, unreasonable and arbitrary.”

As such, the company is seeking several court orders, including an order compelling the Government to issue the certificate and register it in the LCS.

Ramps is also asking the court to quash the LCS decision to deny it’s local content certification

The company claimed that it was severely affected due to the denial of the certificate and is claiming entitlement for damages against the parties.

Recently, Head of the now divested Trinidad-owned company, Shaun Rampersad begged the Secretariat for reasons for the denial and noted that the company was ready to remedy its shortcomings, as it stands to lose in a major way.

The company, which hosted a press conference to talk about it being denied the certificate, was confident that it satisfied the requirements to be added to the local content registry.

The company will be appearing at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court on Friday for 10 criminal charges filed by the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) earlier this month.

These charges, which are in accordance with the provisions of the Customs Act Chapter 82:01, stemmed from a recently completed investigation carried out by its Law Enforcement and Investigations Division.