A permanent location has still not been found for the container scanner which was commissioned by the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) three years ago, leaving Guyana in breach of international trade obligations.
This issue was once again brought to the forefront at Monday’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) hearing at the Public Buildings, where it was related that the GRA is still in the position where it is unable to scan containers, and so is dependent on manual examinations.
PAC member Juan Edghill expressed concerns Monday that the integrity of containers leaving the shores are in question as he said it was established before that manual examinations are insufficient.
According to the Auditor General’s (AG’s) 2015 Report, GRA’s newest scanner, which was purchased in 2013 at a cost of US$5 million, and which went into operation in January 2014, became inoperable in June 2016, but was subsequently fixed. The state-of-the-art mobile container scanner was purchased for the purpose of 100% container scanning, which then Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh said was to ensure the country is compliant with international laws.
Prior to the commissioning of that scanner, the report noted that in May 2010, the GRA purchased an electronic container scanner at a cost of US$1M for the purpose of 100% container scanning. The report said that the scanner was pressed into operation on May 23, 2011 and was determined to be inoperable on 18th October, 2014 as a result of a loss of power to the electrical cabinet.
The report said that the GRA’s response to the findings was that the first scanner is unserviceable and that it was not cost-effective to repair it. The GRA said that the second scanner had “malfunctioned because of its constant exposure to the weather conditions. The scanner was repaired but currently the Authority is in the process of identifying a permanent location for the scanner.”
In a previous report by this newspaper, it was noted that according to the AG’s report, up until September 2016, the scanner had been functioning once again, but no place had still been found for it.
At Monday’s meeting, Ingrid Griffith, Deputy Commissioner-General of GRA related that a few months ago, GRA had been granted permission to utilize the National Park for the purpose of container scanning, but the operation resulted in damage occurring to the facility. She further stated that efforts were being made to have the operation relocated to GNIC and that while preparations had been underway, problems were subsequently encountered. She speculated that it may have been due to issues with funding.
At the commissioning of the scanner in 2014, Singh had said that some of the major trading capitals of the world and nations such as the United States now require universal scanning of incoming containers. According to a press release from the Government Information Agency (GINA), the then minister said that the scanner “now enables us to be in compliance with those international obligations.”
