GRA IS GOING P-PP

Nov 13, 2013 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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The way the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) is gobbling up parapets and reserves to provide parking for its staff and clients would make you believe that sooner or later it will lay claim to parapets outside the embassies located in Kingston.
Earlier this year, the GRA decided to consolidate its operations at a single location at the former CLICO building on Camp Street. This new head office is located in one of the busiest zones in the country, just opposite a large primary school and near to a number of thriving fast food and ice cream businesses.
The decision to consolidate the office of the GRA was a most inexplicable one, especially given the technology now allows for disparate locations to be integrated without a physical merger between units.
Why did the GRA take such a decision? Why did it do so considering that it is not even the owner of the Camp Street building but is paying a rent?
One view is that this was a politically-imposed decision to allow some revenue stream to be accrued for use of the building which is said to be rented from the National Insurance Scheme, which lost billions in the CLICO debacle, and which now owns the asset in Camp Street.
As a result of the decision to bring almost all of its Georgetown operations under one roof, immense challenges were presented to the GRA. For one, a problem with parking arose.
It does seem as if on a per capita basis the GRA’s staff has more cars than any other agency in the country. Therefore, even though the GRA acquired a lot at the corner of Camp and Quamina Streets, this was not sufficient for the staff parking. As such, another lot across the way was acquired.
This did not solve the problem of staff parking, much less the bigger one of finding adequate parking for the thousands of persons who visit the tax office each day to conduct business. Recognizing the problem, the GRA began to prepare parking lots in contiguous areas to Camp Street. Most of the parapets in Waterloo Street, for example, were set aside to cater for parking for GRA staff and customers. Then at one stage the East Street parking lot which was made for persons visiting the Georgetown Hospital was also set aside for GRA parking. That has since been abandoned.
By now, it should have been clear to the GRA that Guyanese interested in conducting business with the entity are not going to park two blocks away. The parking lots on Waterloo Street prepared by the GRA and manned by guards have been virtually abandoned by the tax clients.
Why then is the GRA building entering into an arrangement with a Chinese construction firm to convert the old train line reserve parallel to Lamaha Street into a parking lot? Which GRA staffer or client is going to park their vehicle in that parking lot and then walk the almost three blocks to the GRA head office?
The parking lot is being built by a Chinese construction firm and for which GRA will pay the contractors a fee. Critics have described this arrangement as a gift from the Chinese firm to the GRA. But they are wrong.
This is not a gift, because the GRA said that they will be paying the company a fee for use of the parking facilities. This is therefore not a gift; it is a public-private partnership (P-PP).
And typical of the public-private partnerships that have developed under the PPPC, this one will end up benefitting more the private investors and not the general public.
No persons wishing to conduct business with the GRA will park at that parking lot. It is too far from there to the GRA head office.  Thus, the GRA will end up paying a fee to whomever runs the parking lot, but the lot will end up serving that large restaurant and hotel that will be launched soon at the busy junction. Other businesses nearby will also benefit from parking.  In other words, GRA pays, but the businesses nearby will be the prime beneficiaries.
The government made a wild decision when it opted to allow use of that reserve as parking lots. Better use could have been put to it.
It is well known that that area where the reserve is located is one the busiest during rush hours. The reserve itself is very wide and could have been used to create an outlet road with four lanes and a median. This would have eased the traffic woes during peak hours since walk paths could have been constructed across the Forty-Feet Canal, thereby allowing access to the many schools on Woolford Avenue. This would have eased the long lines seen on a daily basis around that area.
Instead, a massive parking lot is being constructed to benefit the nearby businesses on Lamaha Street and Camp Street, while the GRA picks up the tab. Now if this is not your typical PPPC public-private partnership, what is?

 

 

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