Yesterday, the Commissioner General of the GRA – Khurshid Sattaur and several department heads gave the media a tour of the ground floor of the new facility on Camp Street where most of the services are accessed by customers.
This new location accommodates the Customs and Trade Administration, Licence Revenue Division, the Value Added Tax and Income Tax Divisions, the Human Resources and Finance Division and the GRA Secretariat.
According to the Government Information Agency, Sattaur said “We have done a lot of things to speed up the time it takes to do business here…everything is now happening at this location quite apart from what it used to be six months ago when you had to visit about five locations to have services rendered to you”.
He acknowledged that with all the services at one location that there would be congestion which is due to the agency’s employees totalling 700 along with the large number of people who approach it for services. He noted that on a normal day the GRA is visited by over 2000 people and that amount doubles when deadlines for tax submissions draw near.
“We are proud of what we have achieved, and we want the Guyanese public to know that we have done this mainly because we have you at heart,” Sattaur said.
He added that the GRA has been receiving some negative publicity in the news despite the efforts to better its services. “We are very saddened by all of this,” he said.
He acknowledged that parking for customers is still an issue, but that the GRA is working to address it. Thus far there are two designated parking lots for staff and customers can also park along the roadside.
Karen Chapman-Deputy Head of the Customs and Trade Administration, Gavin Low – Senior Manager, Tax Exemption, Mellissa Romeo- Manager, Compliance and Liability and Wayne Austin- Senior Manager, Licence and Motor Vehicle Registration gave explanations for the services offered and procedures of their respective departments, GINA said.
