Dear Editor,
My visit to the GRA headquarters last week was shocking. It took me ten minutes to find a place to park my car and I had to walk about quarter mile to reach the entrance to the facility. When I looked at the building I became fearful that it would collapse. I am surprised that over one thousand workers and hundreds of persons seeking the services of the revenue authority are cramped like sardines into that small, life-threatening structure. The offices of the senior officers are so small that they can barely hold three persons.
The Co-operative Republic of Guyana is on the move and we constantly must look to improve our standards and facilities. The GRA is collecting over $250 billion dollars in revenue annually. The employees are spending over a quarter of their daily lives there and the taxpayers need to have better and more encouraging accommodation.
I understand that over the years there have been many discussions on the utilization of the D’Urban Park vacant land for the relocation of this vital institution. I humbly suggest that our government should reconsider the uses of D’Urban Park land and build a modern Revenue Collection Agency with a huge parking facility for staff and customers.
My understanding is that the government has already identified ten acres of land on the East Coast for this purpose. My suggestion is that Georgetown would be more convenient because of the proximity of the business centre.
Yours faithfully,
Nazar Mohamed
