The clearing of consignments from wharves is expected to speed up as two mobile cranes are expected to be put into operation soon by John Fernandes Limited and Muneshwer’s Limited.
This was disclosed yesterday in a release from the Ministry of Finance following a tour of wharves by Minister Ashni Singh.
The release said that the Minister also urged Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) staff to ensure that they deliver efficient and effective service to taxpayers at the facilities.
The visit has become an annual one during the busy Christmas season when the year-end clearance process is in full swing and Singh inspected the operations at the Guyana National Industrial Company (GNIC) on Lombard Street and the John Fernandes facility on Water Street.
“There, he met with GRA Department Heads to outline his Government’s key priorities (including highest standards of integrity, increased efficiency and delivery of high-quality services) and also interacted with members of the public who were on site uplifting barrels and boxes”, the release said.
Accompanied by Commissioner-General Godfrey Statia and other senior officials of the GRA, Singh urged staff to ensure that they make their best effort to ensure all holiday consignments are cleared before Christmas Day.
Singh said Government will continue to work towards rapid modernization of Guyana.
“You have seen on most of our visits, both at the GNIC Laparkan wharf and also at the John Fernandes Wharf, modern scanners that are able to scan barrels and small packages and those are investments that we have been making over time to ensure that at all of the major ports of entry, we have the capability and we have also been introducing risk management and risk-profiling systems and methodology within the GRA, all with the objective of deploying technology and data in a more efficient way to facilitate more efficient Customs Operations and more efficient trade transactions and port transactions,” the Minister said.
The release noted that in August 2021, in an effort to ease the burden of the higher cost to import container goods into Guyana, Government, by statute, reduced freight charges to pre-pandemic levels (March 31, 2020) in terms of the calculation of customs duties, excise taxes, and input VAT on goods imported.
