Sattaur grounds new clearance system at Timehri
Stabroek News
March 26, 2004
Businessmen are upset about a Guyana Revenue Authority(GRA) directive that originally meant goods sent in by air would have to be transported to town before being cleared.
In a contentious meeting yesterday, representatives of business associations, freight carriers and airlines took on Commissioner Khurshid Sattaur over a memo signed May 12 directing deputy Jameel Baksh to implement the programme from last Monday. After listening to their arguments, which centred primarily around delays, Sattaur has agreed that only the customs entries will now have to be processed in Georgetown. The memo says the move is to better capture the accuracy of information generated by the database and describes the "current process where goods are examined and cleared at the airport as not being transparent and not subject to the types of controls that are available in Georgetown." Sattaur told those present that millions of dollars in revenue was being lost. They replied that they were being penalised for corruption within his agency.
Sattaur said he would open an express window at the Customs House to allow fast processing but many of those present remain sceptical given the delays of 1 to 2 weeks in seaborne shipments.
He added that the GRA was working on setting up computers and surveillance systems at the airport with a connection to Georgetown and that this would be up and running in 3 weeks. As of now, the old system remains in place.
Among those at the meeting were representatives of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry the Guyana Manufacturers Association, Amerijet, Laparkan and BWIA. Efforts to contact Sattaur yesterday were unsuccessful.