Taxpayers can no longer use the parking facility opposite the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) Headquarters on Camp Street, a GRA press release issued yesterday said.
The GRA had made the facility available to taxpayers at a minimum fee, as it sought to resolve once and for all the problematic traffic situation that was created when both staff and taxpayers were utilising Camp Street for parking.
However, the release said, after the GRA had opened the lot in late January this year, occupation was dismal and there was a high degree of reluctance to pay for parking. The notion that the facility should be free was ruled out by the fact that the GRA does not own the parking lot and is not associated with any fees charged for its use, the release said. Taxpayers who henceforth seek to utilise the lot for parking will be denied access, it added. It said the inconvenience taxpayers who have been utilising the facility now face is regrettable.
After weeks of review and the notable disinterest towards the lot, the GRA said, it was promoted to instead utilise the space for staff parking, for which a fee is attached.
Speaking to the Lamaha railway embankment parking facility, the GRA said plans were put in place, through the help of a foreign developer, to prepare that area to facilitate staff parking after the GRA had surrendered a lot it had previously occupied at the corner of Camp and Quamina streets.
However, underutilisation of the Lamaha lot by staff resulted in the GRA extending the offer to vehicle owners of other entities. Since then a positive response has been noted.
Even though the interventions by the GRA did little to achieve the desired results, the release said, the GRA wishes to reiterate that it remains committed to convenient parking and order in the busy sections of the capital.
