Commissioner General of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), Godfrey Statia wants the entity to be a ‘leaner, meaner administrating machine.”
To make this a reality, he will be pursuing a number of changes for 2019, starting with the restructuring of the chain of command. Statia said that the Executive structure will be amended to allow for the reinstitution of certain positions which include Comptroller of Customs, Commissioner of Internal Revenue and Head of Value Added Tax (VAT).
He said, “With these positions, we can facilitate a leaner administration whereby the respective divisions can report to their respective Heads rather than coming to me. So this will, in turn, allow me to do more in-depth planning and concentrate my efforts on strategic management issues, delegation, training etc. But I also want a meaner administrating machine, whereby there is a no-nonsense approach from those in charge to instances of corruption.”
Statia said that he will continue the initiative of staff rotations. The Commissioner General noted that the removal of the corrupt is also improving staff morale and he is also establishing a system of promotion based on competence, and acting appointments based on seniority, and academic achievements.
Further to this, Statia said that the Secretariat of the Commissioner General will be upgraded to boost his efforts in having a better functioning revenue authority.
He said, “This Secretariat needs to be upgraded to facilitate improved public relations, legal work, and investigations that need expeditious conclusions. The upgrades are also needed to ensure we are in a better position to follow up on critical matters and improve the overall administrative management of the GRA.”
In this regard, the Commissioner General said that the Secretariat requires a Manager, a Legal Officer and Tax Specialist that would work alongside him on a permanent basis to ensure the aforementioned are achieved.
This is expected to be in place by May 2019 after the necessary facilities are put in place.
