NICIL moves to court to resolve land, money issues with GNIC

National Industrial and Commercial Investment Inc (NICIL) is depending on the court system to resolve issues surrounding land it had leased to the Guyana National Industrial Company (GNIC).

Speaking with Stabroek News Officer in charge of NICIL Horace James said that while the legal system was slow he has every confidence that it will assist NICIL in recovering both the land leased and the money owed by GNIC.

“We filed receivership papers in late November and the first hearing is scheduled I believe for February. We are going through the courts to resolve this issue. It is the only process I know of to legally and smoothly repossess the Lombard Street property. It’s not like we can go in there with hammer and crowbar and remove them,” he explained.

GNIC, a company owned by Laparkan and the National Engineering Company (NEC), purchased the assets of the former Guyana National Engineering Corporation (GNEC) and leased Lots 1-12 Lombard Street as part of the privatization of GNEC. NICIL reduced the rent due from GNIC by 50% in 2000 and the sale price of equipment in 1995 by 30%. Despite these concessions, GNIC failed to honour its obligations to pay under the lease and the matter was forwarded to arbitration in July 2009.

In 2013 arbitrational proceedings for unpaid rent resulted in an award of $148,860,870 in favour of NICIL for the period 2006 to 2009.

According to a press statement from that time, the Tribunal Ruling was based on extensive reviews of exhibits tendered, pleadings, written submissions, and notes of cross-examination of NICIL’s Executive Director Winston Brassington and GNIC’s Chief Executive Officer Clinton Williams.

The Government of Guyana as NICIL’s shareholder had pledged to implement the Tribunal’s ruling with careful attention to the interest of the workers of GNIC as it remained steadfast in its commitment to ensuring that the livelihood of the employees of GNIC was not affected by the acts of NICIL.

Since that time NICIL, via court action, managed to ‘garnish’ $35 million that was owed by Demerara Distillers Ltd and Nagasar Sawh Ltd to GNIC, and so was able to partially offset that amount against the arbitration judgement that GNIC continues to fail to honour.

According to James, further court action to have GNIC placed in receivership and its assets used to offset its debt to NICIL was temporarily halted when the ministers of Business and Social Protection engaged in social compassion interventions. Other attempts at liquidation have been stayed by Larparkan and the workers’ union.

Later, on April 21, 2016, Claude Saul, Chairman of NEC, which is owned by the workers and holds 30% of GNIC’s shares, wrote to NICIL requesting that a hold be put on bankruptcy proceedings for three months. NICIL’s Board of Directors and the Minister of Finance allowed this request in an attempt to save jobs and allow NEC to hold discussions with an investor who was interested in acquiring the company. They were granted until October 31, 2016 to fulfil their obligations.

The attempts to find an investor failed and NICIL in late November instructed its lawyers to recommence receivership proceedings against GNIC.