THE HAMMER HAS FALLEN ON THE GRA

Jul 02, 2016 Editorial

It seems that the hammer has fallen on the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) which continues to have a series of problems ranging from bribery, poor services and inefficiency to the misuse and abuse of the tax collection process.
Its senior staff is in for a rough ride as its Chairman, Rawle Lucas, has taken a tough stance against all illegal activities and misconduct of some senior officials at the nation’s premier tax collection agency.
However, attempts to change the work culture and habits at the GRA are not going to be an easy task. The GRA has a flawed structure and too many political appointees. Negative reports in the media have demoralized its senior management staff.
In the wake of Commissioner General Khurshid Sattaur’s firing last January after twelve turbulent years at the helm of the GRA, three of his cohorts have now been dismissed in what has been described as a major shake-up at the agency.
Citing poor performance and inefficiency, the public firings of three senior officers clearly shows that the Chairman is serious about changing the image and the work culture of the organization by stamping out bribery and other corrupt practices at the agency. It has been alleged that some customs officers were ordered to seek bribes from the clientele so as to provide a certain amount of money on a weekly basis to their bosses as a way of taking bribes for themselves.
In announcing the dismissals and the major shake-up, the GRA Chairman said, “We are not satisfied with the extent to which our revenues were being collected with respect to our customs operation (so) we felt it was in the best interest of the organization to make some changes.” Indeed, changes are needed but they should not be done in such high handed and crude manner. For the Chairman to make such major changes without consulting with the Acting Commissioner General (ACG) and senior management shows a complete lack of respect for them.
And for him to ask the ACG to proceed on leave without her requesting it is impolite and painful. It seems that the ACG has become the scapegoat for the past ills committed at the GRA.
The acting Commissioner General is expected to return to her substantive position after her leave.
There is no dispute that changes are needed at the GRA, but they must be accompanied by a strategic plan to improve services across the board and the collection of revenues as well as the synchronizing of services in all the regions.
While some believe that that shake-up is a start in the right direction for the agency which is out of control, others are of the view that it is tantamount to putting the cart before the horse because there is no leadership at the GRA. And there is nothing in place to prevent a recurrence of the past illegal activities.
The GRA is leaderless and it seems to be having difficulties recruiting a high level professional to fill the substantive position of Commissioner General. The Chairman appears to be in a quandary as to future direction of the GRA. In the past, the appointment of unqualified and inexperience political appointees have transformed the organization into a partisan and discriminatory tax collection agency.
While some business leaders and senior public officials with political contacts were given tax reprieve, others without such contacts were not given any.
The GRA is supposed to be a professional and independent organization, but it is not. It became a political football under the last administration which not only had full control of it but some of its members also used it to punish those who had opposed and criticized them.
The release of private tax information of the publisher of this newspaper by the former Commissioner General of the GRA to the former Attorney General and the former President is a case in point.

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