THE Stabroek News senseless assault against the public image of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) depicted in the most callous attempt at humorous illustration, using the cartoon section of Sunday, 7th August edition of that newspaper would, for a long time, remain etched in the memory of the staff of one thousand and more employees, as well as your more intelligent readers, as the most profound ignorance portrayed by the Stabroek News. I am prepared to wager that the cartoonist must have had great reservations to draw that cartoon, for it is inconceivable that anyone with even the remotest of knowledge of the evolution of the tax administration of the country, or it’s most ardent critic, would not deny that as the results would demonstrate, there has never in the history of the life of the Agency been greater levels of effective management exercised.
The GRA provides an important service to the Government and people of Guyana. Over the years, under the current administration of highly knowledgeable and able team of managers, the GRA has seen tremendous success. It is therefore not surprising that we continue to see an advancement of these efforts at the GRA. It is because of the tremendous investment in building of the institutional capacity and providing the necessary resources to modernize the operations, that all of these massive improvements are possible.
One must not discount and take for granted the astute leadership and guidance provided by a team of highly knowledgeable Board Members – the Chairman, who is a public servant and heads the Planning Division of the Ministry of Finance, the Governor of the Bank of Guyana, the Chief Statistician, the Director of Budget and the Commissioner-General, a true son of the soil and has served that institution with distinction for well over 25 years.
It should be noted that the acquisition of the scanner to assist the Customs Operations, the completion of the warehouse at Eccles, the massive institutional changes built around functionality, the widespread use of Information Technology, employment of cost effective measures in the routine operations of the organization all bear testimony to the exciting things that have occurred at the GRA.
Many of these changes were bought about from the efforts of our own staff all of whom have a burning desire to lift the living standards of their fellow Guyanese from the redistribution of the wealth of the country stemming from a more equitable tax system. The organization continues to make advances in efficiency, and to target persons who are guilty of tax evasion.
The GRA has become more efficient in collecting taxes from tax evaders including persons in the regions who have not been honouring their obligations as they should.
We are indeed proud of these giant steps we are making for less than a few years ago, the current revenue the GRA was collecting has almost doubled. Most of the Taxpayers will tell you that except for the sale of the annual motor vehicle licences, all of the offices are now highly functional and efficient.
Just to illustrate, the Revenue base has expanded so much that today, four percent (4%) of the Revenue is used to service external debts compared to what was obtained 15 years ago when the revenue collection was so poor that 94% of the Revenue was used for that purpose. The GRA has exceeded all expectations of the Government and, as a proud member of staff, I am very pleased with the efforts made to improve efficiency in the detection of fraud, smuggling and corrupt practices, due to the stringent measures put in place by the Commissioner-General and the Governing Board.
The Editors of newspapers have a responsibility to the citizens and should be fair and dispassionate in promoting healthy opinions concerning national institutions through their editorial policies and the Stabroek news is no different.

I want to appeal for better judgment to prevail as we face another difficult period, and despite the inappropriate joke in the cartoon which did not make me laugh, it portrayed the GRA and the Commissioner-General in a negative way.

Finally, the organization has to meet targets set in the National Budget and has to continue to perform well, since the citizens of Guyana all benefit from revenue collected.