The appointment of a Commissioner-General to head the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) has to await the appointment of a new board of directors.
The life of the present board ended on December 31. The GRA has been without a Commissioner-General since Edgar Heyligar CCH, who headed the agency from its inception, withdrew his services in August. In the absence of the Commissioner-General, Stabroek News understands that the Commissioners of Inland Revenue and Customs and Trade Administration respectively perform the functions of Commissioner-General as they relate to their departments.
Notwithstanding the informal arrangements in place, Stabroek News has learnt that a number of important issues did not attract the attention of the board. Among these issues are the recommendations related to the GRA that were made by the Fiscal Administration Department (FAD) of the International Monetary Fund and the report of the investigation ordered by Heyligar into the procedure used in clearing a number of containers consigned to Alberttown businessman S. Ahmad.
A source close to the now expired board told Stabroek News that the Commissioner-General is the person to bring these matters before the board. The source said, too, that the board has written the Minister of Finance recommending the need for the post of Commissioner-General to be filled or an acting appointment made until a substantive appointment could be announced.
One of the FAD recommendations is the need for the appointment of a Deputy Commissioner-General who would preferably have a background in Customs and Trade Administration.
The organisational chart of the GRA does not include the post of Deputy Commissioner-General.