– Sattaur says company demonstrating corporate social responsibility
Bai Shan Lin has partnered with the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) to develop a portion of the railway embankment immediately east of Camp Street, into a parking facility for use by GRA’s staff and customers.
GRA Commissioner General Khurshid Sattaur said such a partnership initiative is worthy of emulation as it augurs well for development, the tax body reported on Tuesday.
Sattaur said, given the nightmarish plight GRA faces to find parking for staff and customers at its headquarters on Camp Street, Bai Shan Lin has seized the opportunity to demonstrate its corporate social responsibility by constructing a parking area on the portion of the reserve granted to the GRA for such use by the government.
“The work is being carried out by equipment owned by the company. As such, no government funds are being disbursed as the facility is not built on transported land but rather government reserve,” Sattaur said. He said the gesture is also one in recognition of the government of Guyana’s benevolence to the company in allowing it to engage in many economic ventures that have mutual benefit to country, particularly in economically depressed Region 10.
Similar initiative
Sattaur said the initiative is similar to what obtained many years ago when former Stabroek News editor and owner David De Caires decided to beautify Camp Street, Georgetown as a place of interest and national heritage.
“This company wants to be known as having a caring and good corporate image. It does not only want to be seen as receiving from the state benefits in terms of millions of dollars in concessions in forestry equipment, but in honouring it’s social and moral obligation to the community and country that it serves,” the commissioner general said.
He further stated that the organisation welcomes similar economic or social ventures that result in rendering some form of benefit to the citizens of this country through a state agency.
“The GRA does not consider such demonstrations of social legitimacy by businesses a conflict of interest, as the organisation maintains a professional relationship with all the businesses it contracts to undertake various works.
Economic relationship
“From time to time, we contract out services worth large sums to different businesses and these persons are still obligated to pay their taxes, except they are exempt or a concession has been granted,” Sattaur said. He said the GRA will soon enter into an economic relationship that would result in payment being made over a period of time for such facilities to be rented for a number of years at a nominal fee.
This is in order to meet the high demand for parking that the business community has placed on the agency at its new location.
Sattaur noted that the organisation’s headquarters currently house 841 staff, of which approximately 235 require parking.
Additionally, at the very least, there are 996 taxpayers who frequent the office on a daily basis, of which it is presumed that approximately 300 have vehicles.
This means that over 500 persons would require parking on a daily basis. These persons currently compete with schools and other businesses in the area for the available sidewalk.
The parking facility should be considered a positive venture that would benefit both internal and external stakeholders.
