Guyanese president Bharrat Jagdeo, whose country is locked in a trade fight with Trinidad Cement Limited (TCL), which the South American country is losing in court, is now crying conflict of interest because Dr Rollin Bertrand, the head of the cement manufacturer, is also chairman of Caribbean Court of Justice Trust Fund.

TCL shot back Tuesday that Jagdeo knows that the organs of Caricom are designed to be insulated from interference, subsequently taking out advertisements to that effect in three countries across the Caribbean.

A day later, the cement case took yet another turn with the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) ruling via teleconference with the parties Wednesday that it would hear oral arguments on what it sees as potentially a complex issue - efforts by TCL to have Guyana cited for contempt of court.

Unable to handle

Rollin Bertrand is CEO of the Trinidadian company which, in August, successfully challenged a decision by Guyana to open its cement market to imports to cover what the country said then was a shortfall in the market that TCL's subsidiary, TCL Guyana, was unable to handle.

TCL sued and Guyana was ordered in midsummer by CCJ to reinstitute the protective 15 per cent Common External Tariff that applies duties to cement from outside the region, but did not act within the September 17 deadline.

TCL, on October 6, filed an application for the country's attorney general to be cited for contempt and ordered before the court to answer for Guyana's failure to act. Guyana wants to keep the CET suspended at least to yearend, having argued that it needed at least six months to ward off any adverse impact to the local economy.

The CCJ, this week, gave Guyana 14 days to file the arguments against the contempt allegation, and seven days thereafter for TCL to respond, the cement company said in a release late Wednesday.

Jagdeo, the current chairman of Caricom, said in the wake of the October 6 contempt application filed by TCL that Bertrand's position with the CCJ fund and his legal battle with Guyana were among issues discussed by Caricom heads at their annual summit in July.

"It was discussed in caucus," he said, according to a CMC report. "The person who chairs the CCJ's Trust Fund and who came in regular contact with the court is also the CEO of TCL and TCL was the first company that sought redress from the court. The Heads concluded that this is conflict of interest."

But TCL countered that while Bertrand sits as a trustee of the initially capitalised US$100-million fund, so do two Guyanese.

Represents the integrity

"The TCL Group is disturbed by President Jagdeo's comments, since in his capacity as chairman of Caricom, he is expected to properly represent the integrity of regional institutions," said the TCL statement.

"In addition, president Jagdeo is a signatory to the treaty establishing the CCJ and the CCJ Trust Fund, and as part of the original 'design team', he is well aware of the institutional arrangements that are in place to insulate the court from any kind of interference - political or otherwise."

TCL said for the conflict of interest charge to have currency, the Trust Fund would have to be able to exercise power over the CCJ judges, but that no such avenue exists.

The Claxton Bay-based operation insists that Bertrand had been cautious in his actions during the conduct in the court case, saying he offered to resign as chairman of TCL Guyana, but the offer was rejected by the group board after lawyers weighed in; and that Bertrand signed no affidavits in relation to the case, nor did he appear as a witness at the hearings before the CCJ.

The company urged Guyana on Wednesday to remedy the trade situation expeditiously by reimposing duties on imported cement.

Jagdeo has maintained that his government's actions to suspend the CET were in keeping with a decision taken by CARICOM leaders some time ago that the duty tariff be removed from commodities that achieve international competitiveness.

"And as far as I am concerned, cement has achieved this status," the Guyanese leader said, according to CMC.

lavern.clarke@gleanerjm.com