LOCAL PARTNERS in the aborted Jamaica Soya Products Industries are planning on taking the Government to court for compensation for the failed project.
However, the local investors are not supporting the attempt to block Jamaica from extended CBI export benefits by their former overseas partners.
Lascelles Chin, head of Lasco and former chairman of the failed venture, told The Gleaner that he had not been informed by his former US partner, Burton Josephs of Joseph Companies (Josco) of Minnesota, USA, that he was seeking to block Jamaica's participation in the recently extended CBI export facility for apparel.
"It was unknown to me. We've not communicated for sometime," Mr. Chin said.
However, he said that the Jamaican partners in the venture are just as upset as Josephs with the Jamaican Government; still want compensation for their losses; want the matter to be arbitrated; and are warning that if there is no arbitration, they will take the Government to Court.
"They are just not taking it seriously," Mr. Chin answered, when asked about the Government's reaction to the claims for compensation. The Government had also ignored his warnings about American Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) involvement, he said.
OPIC, which became liable to Josco to the tune of its US$1.5 million investment after the project failed, has accused the Jamaican Government of expropriation and a breach of international law.
Mr. Chin said yesterday that he was primarily interested in the US$3.8 million, which had been spent on a soya oil refinery.
He accused the Government of "pulling the rug from under their feet," by removing the 65 per cent duty on soya oil 25 per cent duty on soya beans, just nine months after divesting the plant to the joint venture partners for US$5 million in 1993. This forced the company to lay off 120 workers and led to a $500 million accumulated debt.
The investors rebuked the Government for removing the duties without any discussion with them and despite official denials that the duties were being lifted.
Mr. Chin also maintained at the time the duties were removed both oil and meal were on the list of ineligibles, meaning that the Government should not unilaterally remove the duties without discussions.
The Gleaner has been seeking a response from the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Technology on the matter for the past three days without success. The Minister, Phillip Paulwell, is understood to be studying the situation before making a public comment.
Former Minister of Industry and Commerce, Dr. Paul Robertson, had reacted that the Government did not accept responsibility for the company's problems. He said that the Government had made every effort to assist the company, including facilitating financial assistance through the NIBJ and the EXIM Bank.
But. Mr. Chin explained, Wednesday: "Had they told us (about the removal of the duty) we would not have gone through with the investment."
This is the second occasion on which an American investor has sought to stop the flow of U.S. aid to Jamaica. In the 1980s, the late John Rollins, whose lands in Rose Hall, Montego Bay, ended up with the Government of Jamaica after he failed to make certain repayments, encouraged Texas Congressman Charles Wilson to block US appropriations to Jamaica, in reaction.
