VAMED condemns GRA seizure of company vehicles as unlawful

In light of the seizure of several vehicles belonging to VAMED Engineering GmbH by the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) on Saturday, the company, in a statement, asserted that the seizure is an unjustified interference with its private property rights and intends to explore and pursue all available legal options.

The seized vehicles comprised three trucks and one car, all purchased by and registered in the name of VAMED Engineering GmbH. According to the company’s attorney, Nigel Hughes, the GRA Customs Enforcement Officer was asked during the seizure to identify the legal authority for the action and produce supporting documentation.

Hughes related that the officer neither identified the applicable law nor produced documents establishing the legal basis for the seizure.

“Mr. Hughes further stated that, when asked whether the GRA had issued any prior notices or demands to VAMED concerning the vehicles, the officer was unable to produce any. He informed the officer that the dispute was the subject of ongoing arbitration proceedings under the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Arbitration Rules and cautioned against any action that would interfere with the arbitrators’ jurisdiction,” VAMED Engineering GmbH stated in a release to the media on Monday.

“This brazen seizure of VAMED’s private property marks a serious escalation in this dispute, and one that will not go uncontested,” VAMED’s institutional representative in Guyana, Dr. João Pedro da Silva Teles, added.

“It is becoming increasingly clear that the government is uncomfortable with the difficult but legitimate questions we have been raising publicly about its handling of these hospital projects. The Guyanese people have a right to know how their government has managed public funds, why these critically important hospitals remain unfinished, and why promises to deliver better healthcare have gone unfulfilled. Rather than addressing these questions, the government now appears intent on intimidating those who dare to ask them. We will not be silenced,” the release added.