Dear Editor,
It is good to be alive (the oldest) to share in the celebratory remarks on the 21st anniversary of the establishment of the GRA.
I was particularly pleased at the Chairman’s recognition of Edgar Heyligar as the first Commissioner, for it was Edgar who perspicaciously facilitated my inclusion in the team of up to twenty Canadian Consultants out of Revenue Canada who over the year long period of the internationally funded project aimed at merging the Inland Revenue Authority and the Customs and Excise Department into the new Guyana Revenue Authority. I remain grateful to him for being offered the ground-breaking responsibility of creating in full a new Human Resources Management Function – a strategic component of the merged organisation perhaps one of the earliest (if not the earliest) in the public sector at the time.
It was a most productive and collaborative experience. One recalls that during its extended period the consultancy became somewhat of a family affair, with several of my Canadian colleagues being accompanied by their spouses – to provide more than moral support. We socialised and developed friendships, travelled the hinterland on weekends; wined and dined at the Georgetown Club – as in the particular case of Bernie and Mary Lodge. It was Bernie’s responsibility to construct a viable Internal Audit Department. We have never ceased to communicate to this day.
Finally two things: first when my colleagues departed I had to remain in situ to complete something like one hundred and fifty job descriptions for the new organisation.
Secondly, I recall meeting now Commissioner, the young Godfrey Statia before the event, in his office at the Inland Revenue Department.
Congratulations!
Yours faithfully,
E.B. John
