Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) staffers have been forced to use the agency’s parking lot at Camp and Lamaha streets after it chose to discontinue rental of a property opposite its Camp Street headquarters that was being used for parking.
According to GRA Commissioner-General Godfrey Statia, GRA was paying approximately $1 million per month to rent the property for use as a parking lot, which he said was too expensive.
As a result, Statia said that they chose not to renew the lease and instead let staffers use the parking lot that was built some years ago at Camp and Lamaha streets.
Prior to the GRA workers resuming use of the lot, it was abandoned for around two years.
Stabroek News was told that the parking lot has been in use for some three weeks and lights were installed in order to accommodate the workers and ensure there is optimal security.
Chairman of the GRA’s Board of Directors Rawle Lucas had previously stated that one of the major issues with the use of the facility was that there was no transport for employees from the parking lot to the GRA office.
This is no longer a major issue, as the company currently provides a shuttle service.
The parking lot was constructed by Baishanlin on a portion of what had previously been government reserve. Since its inception, the construction of the parking lot has been clouded by issues surrounding the propriety of the project, especially given the furore involving Baishanlin’s logging export.
