Over a year after the discovery that a tax collector embezzled over $20 million from the Golden Grove/ Diamond Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC), its Chairman Bharrat Narine has called for the computerisation of the tax collection system used by local authorities in order to prevent fraud.
“The NDCs throughout the country need better systems in place and this tax collecting needs to be done from a database. There’re many recommendations I can give as an auditor but you cannot just go into a book and see how much a person has to pay and use ink and writing. You need one of those pay systems like in supermarkets and bank systems where you have a unique number attached to receipts,” Narine told Stabroek News, while noting that the current systems must be upgraded in order to promote transparency and accountability.
“We’re the biggest NDC in the country and bigger than any municipality, except for Georgetown, in terms of population. There needs to be government intervention in the way these NDCs are operating. For too long people are paying their taxes and then hearing we lose money,” he added.
