Guyana Revenue Authority Commissioner General Khurshid Sattaur said that corruption at the semi-autonomous state agency is on the decline, crediting this to the many operational and structural changes made at the revenue body over the years. He made the comment during an exclusive interview with Guyana Times International on Tuesday at his Lamaha Street Office in Georgetown.
Guyana Revenue Authority Commissioner General Khurshid Sattaur
Sattaur explained that the changes in the organisational, operational and structural pillars of the GRA are largely responsible for the decline. He was adamant that the new systems that were implemented recently have had a positive impact on the detection, investigation and disciplinary measures taken against errant officers.
“I think the level of accountability that we have today is so much greater and enhanced when compared to the past, but yet I must admit that it is not perfect,” Sattaur said. He said that the new Internal Affairs Unit, which has been set up and made fully functional within the GRA, has been carrying out investigations whenever the need arises and when an allegation surfaces against any employee. He explained that once officers are found guilty and in breach of the standard operations practices, they are disciplined according to the requisite penalties as outlined within the policies of the GRA. Sattaur explained that the success enjoyed over the past years with respect to the reduction of corruption and bribery can also be attributed to the work of the Internal Audit Department as well, which constantly keeps tabs on staff performances and functions because it continuously identifies weakness and challenges which are not left to fester.
“Internal auditing is becoming one of the hallmarks of the checks and balances that are placed on officers and the scrutiny that an employee must face within the context of our Standard Operational Procedures,” Sattaur related.
He suggested that a new type of GRA has been birthed that is more focussed on integrity, accountability and transparency, while executing its mandate of revenue collection and reigning in corruption and tax evaders.
“The public must judge us,” Sattaur reminded as he vowed that all allegations made against individuals within the GRA are investigated thoroughly and independently. He encouraged persons with information that could see corruption being weeded out within the body to come forward, while cautioning that making an allegation is simply not enough.
The commissioner general said when complaints are filed and allegations made, persons must cooperate with the GRA by providing the entity with evidence or something that can be treated as authentic. “Even a cash receipt, marked money, a photo of the officer in a compromising position or something that could help us to catch them in the act red-handed,” he pleaded.
Hotline
He also lauded the entity’s hotline, which has been very useful with assisting it in the execution of its functions and to identify several officers who are corrupt or breaching the SOPs. “One thing I cannot accept or condone is wrongdoing; that is criminal. Bribery and corruption are such acts… I have zero tolerance for this type of activity and will not spare anyone,” Sattaur reported.
When questioned about the two most recent revelations which saw allegations being made against two employees of the entity that suggested corruption in separate instances, Sattaur welcomed the media reports, stating that investigations were done in both instances. He said he was satisfied that the office assistant who stole the file from the GRA’s record was caught red-handed during a sting operation trying to sell the content of the said file for some Gy$2 million.
He called this “effective”, noting that this type of sting operations is necessary to provide evidence and get to the bottom of the allegation.
Corruption probe
Commenting on another allegation, the manager of the Customs Law Enforcement Unit, Troy Vaanooten, had been involved in some wrongdoing, Sattaur reported that the investigations are “winding down and a final conclusion would be given out on the matter soon”. He seemed to be suggesting that so far, no real evidence of wrongdoing was provided to substantiate the claim as he reported that “persons were not fully cooperating to provide information to substantiate the claims”.
“I am not saying that there was not some level of factual, verifiable information that could have been provided to attest to the officer’s guilt,” he noted as well.
Questioned as to whether the fight against corruption has had any impact on the entity’s continued receipt of external funding and support from various organisations, Sattaur responded in the affirmative, while explaining that it also had largely to do with whether GRA was continuing to execute its mandate successfully and its objectives as well.
GRA has managed to attract in excess of US$6 million in funding, three times since 2006, to strengthen and improve its organisation and the tax collection system within the country. The commissioner general admitted that it is this funding that enabled the entity to construct a Gy$75 million warehouse, purchase a US$1 million container scanner and three patrol boats among other items. The funding sourced has also assisted GRA in devising and implementing some 400 SOPs which are aimed at reducing corruption while building capacity and creating a new culture within the body.
“We continue to benefit from this funding and will continue to execute our mandate”, Sattaur committed.
