Thirty-two vehicles imported by King Solomon Enterprises in 2001 and warehoused without payment of duty under a special arrangement were found rotting at Belfield last year and the Office of the Auditor General has recommended that they be disposed of.
The report of the Office of the Auditor General for 2010 which was tabled in the National Assembly on Friday revealed that a bond worth $60M had been established for King Solomon Enterprises on January 23, 2001 with the now defunct Globe Trust and Investment Company Limited for the purposes of warehousing goods without the payment of duty on the first entry. This agreement had been struck with the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA).
However, the report said that a physical inspection of the Belfield, East Coast Demerara warehouse conducted on July 28, 2011 found 32 vehicles imported since 2001.
“The vehicles were found exposed to the rigors of nature (sun and rain), and were also not secured. Further, the vehicles were in a deplorable state, windscreens were broken, engines rusted, tyres removed and chassis numbers either missing or unclear”, the report stated.
It added that at the time of audit in July 2011 there was no active bond in place as Globe Trust had gone into foreclosure. The report said that the taxes payable on the vehicles were estimated at $58.2M. The report further noted that the vehicles were depreciating in value on a daily basis and no yearly warehouse licence fees had been taken out by the warehouse keeper for more than four years.
The administration’s response as encapsulated in the Auditor General’s report was that it had launched an investigation into the matter. It added that “Having regards to the serious revenue implication, the department will pursue the recommendation among others”.
The audit office then recommended that the bond for $60M be placed at another institution and that the vehicles be disposed of by the Commissioner General of the GRA according to Section 123 of the Customs Act Chapter 82:01.
