Operations at the Licence Revenue Office (LRO) at Smyth Street were severely hampered again on Tuesday by another power outage compounded by a malfunctioning generator but officials pointed to improvements that have been made at the facility.
And like on Monday, the long lines and lengthy delays angered some of the customers at the office, who let their frustrations be known as members of the media gathered for a press briefing.
One upset elderly motorist, who declined to be named, said that he had been waiting in the line since 8 am and shortly before 2 pm, when this newspaper spoke to him, he had not been attended to as yet. He declared that “this was bad administration at its highest”, while saying that he should not be put through this considering his age.
Another woman told this newspaper that she had been waiting for hours just to make a simple payment.
Manager of Excise Tax, Licensing and Motor Vehicle Registration Wayne Austin said on Tuesday that while some of the operations were being affected by the blackouts, those processes that could be manually completed were being done. He explained that the generator was still not working and that technicians from MACORP were trying to repair it. According to him, the generator had last been used over the weekend. When asked if consideration was being given to acquiring a replacement for the generator, Austin said that the technicians were trying to determine what exactly the problem was.
He said when the problem is determined a decision will then be made.
Speaking at a specially arranged media briefing, Austin said that the confusion that occurred at the LRO on Monday was worsened by the build-up of persons who were trying to acquire their Trade and Miscellaneous licences at the last minute. June 1 was the deadline for acquiring these licences.
Stabroek News was told that these licences included those necessary for operators of pawn shops, lumberyards, liquor stores, butcher shops and huckster businesses.
Additionally, Austin opined that some persons may have also thought that Monday was the deadline for acquiring Road Service Licences which would have added to the confusion. The deadline for the issuance of the Road Service Licence is June 22. However, Commis-sioner-General of the GRA Khurshid Sattaur told this newspaper on Monday that this deadline may be extended if necessary. The deadline for Trade and Miscellaneous licences, however, has not been extended and persons still seeking these licences will have to pay a ten percent fine.
At the media briefing, Acting Manager of the Public Relations Unit of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) Rovin Stanley said that since the beginning of the year, the GRA had been working to improve service at the LRO. He said this included building a shed in the compound and demarcating different lines to help persons who went to the office to conduct various transactions.
Stanley said that there were some challenges as the LRO sought to issue computerized Road Services Licences as part of the GRA’s new Licence Revenue Office/ Management Information System (LRO/MIS). He said that this was a process of modernization and pointed out that the database that the officials are working on will be useful to both public and private entities in the future.
When asked about the decentralisation of the licensing process, Stanley pointed out that transactions could be done in the Regional Office after which the information would be passed on to the Central Office. Meanwhile, he also spoke about the operations at the newly constructed GRA complex in Linden. He said that the plan is that before the end of the year, residents of that town would be able to conduct all of their GRA-related activities at that complex.
Stanley, however, opined that part of the reason for the build-up at the Smyth Street Office was because some motorists were not bringing all the necessary documents and consequently had to keep returning to the office to complete the process.
Austin, meanwhile, pointed out that the staff at the Central Office continues to work overtime. He said that the Office is open from 7 am to 5:30 pm on weekdays while on Saturdays it is open from 9 am to 2 pm and from 10 am to 2 pm on Sundays.
However, Austin disclosed that weekends are mostly dedicated to granting licences to all goods vehicles. He said that officials there are ensuring that the vehicles are examined right at the LRO before they are granted such licences.
This is to ensure that the vehicle is being used for the purpose of transporting goods. Consequently, they must fit into certain well-established criteria which include having three seats in the front (for driver and two porters), no seats at the back and the name, address and unladen weight displayed on right side of the vehicle.
Sattaur told this newspaper that the new system would counteract some of the unscrupulous acts that people have been successfully engaging in for years. (Mark McGowan)
