THE Government yesterday passed the Revenue Authority (Amendment) Bill 2003 in the National Assembly which seeks to amend the Revenue Authority Act 1996 to grant autonomy to the Governing Board in the Management of the human resources of the Authority.
This was despite strong opposition from the PNC/R whose Members claimed that this is just a "callous" effort by the Government to "hood-wink" Guyanese and the international financial institutions.
According to the PNC/R member, Mr. Winston Murray, the Finance Minister should not have the power to appoint the members of the Board of the Guyana Revenue Authority, especially since the Bill seeks to give the Governing Board "autonomy" (independence). He said this is political interference.
Opposition Leader, Mr. Robert Corbin, also questioned the merit of the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Mr. Reepu Daman Persaud, moving a motion to suspend the Standing Order No. 46(2) and (3) to enable the Assembly to proceed at its sitting yesterday so that the Revenue Authority (Amendment) Bill 2003 can be passed.
"Why is this Bill so important or urgent that we have to suspend the Standing Orders of this National Assembly to pass this Bill today," Corbin questioned.
Mr. Raphael Trotman, another PNC/R member, also indicated that the party remains "unconvinced" as to why the Standing Order was suspended.
Minister Persaud refuted that the suspension of the Standing Order is not something unusual and in any case, the Revenue Authority (Amendment) Bill is "a very simple, non controversial Bill".
Ms. Sheila Holder of the Guyana Action Party-Working People's Alliance (GAP-WPA), supported the PNC/R's arguments and dismissed the Bill as "flattering only to deceive".
PNC/R member, Mr. Jerome Khan, indicated that at the heart of the problem is the fact that the Finance Minister has direct control of four persons who sits on the board of the Guyana Revenue Authority. Khan, like his colleagues, claimed that this is political interference.
Minister Kowlessar, however, vehemently refuted this argument, pointing out that what the government is trying to do is to give the Government Board of the GRA some measure of autonomy or independence - not full independence. He also indicated that the Bill had to be rushed to the National Assembly so as to fulfill a requirement by the International Financial Institutions before more HIPC funds can be released to our country for development purposes.
"What we are seeking to do here is to increase the independence of the members of the Board of the Revenue Authority, all of whom are professional people (and) we should give them a chance to work and operate professionally, Minister Kowlessar said.
"Why are we always suspicious of the Minister of Finance appointing professionals to the Board," Kowlessar questioned.
He pointed out that since the Revenue authority has been established, the revenues of this country have increased tremendously. In 2000, the revenue collected by the GRA was $38 billion and in 2002 the revenues collected have increased to $40.8 billion.
"So we are giving the revenue authority a chance to govern its affairs in that respect," Kowlessar assured.
According to him, "we need to ask ourselves if it's a better arrangement (and) stop being suspicious".
He said too that these amendments to the Bill will serve to strengthen the administrative capacity of the GRA and to effectively administer the tax laws of this country.