PERMIT me space in your newspaper to respond to a front page article entitled “Family Affair exists at GRA…Sattaur employs two sons, daughter, nephew niece”, published in the July 20 edition of the Kaieteur News.

At first reading of this article, I was most appalled at the level of the depraved mind that would choose to expose my children’s personal details in the public domain, with today’s high crime rate that exists in our beleaguered society.

It’s easy work to establish that they are, on an annual basis, millionaires many times over.

I have given the benefit of the doubt to the owner of the newspaper, as I would not want to associate this cowardly act to a person who is supposedly an upright, principled, and most decent individual; and who, from time to time, would beg for my assistance to employ family members, friends and associates of his at my agency; and who would often request my assistance to expedite matters.

and I would even go so far as to give him tax breaks on goods and supplies he imports for his business, all within the ambit of the law.

I felt very saddened, too, over the fact that the information could perhaps have emanated from one of my trusted employees at the GRA. I do not, for a moment, want to believe that this act represents tit for tat.

I was reliably informed by a confidential source that a customs staff might have been responsible. I have withheld this individual’s name for obvious reasons, as I don’t know to what extent this individual would go to have overturned the decision to have this individual audited through the GRA’s risk management system. This decision has not been influenced by the instrumentality of my son, the audit manager.

This flaw of having a junior manager such as my son sign the initial engagement letter only came to my attention recently after this same Customs officer was overheard making threats and, I was informed, even wrote the chairman of the governing board concerning exposure of my family working at GRA.

In my time, when I was a manager of audit many moons ago, it was always the practice that such letters be signed by the Head of the division or its senior manager. Incidentally, those individuals, whose salaries tower astronomically and make my children’s combined salary pale into insignificance, are paid adequately to take such risks of retribution as would appear to be the case.

GRA has a policy of seriously reprimanding such persons for exposing private and confidential information; and if only for the purpose of protecting other employees from similar exposure in the media, I want to assure this customs officer, who appears to have sterling principles, high ethical standards, and moral rectitude; and who has all the details accurate, even up to the last dollar, that he/she has not heard the last from me in this response.

It should be noted that the GRA has a professional mechanism to investigate and address these unauthorized disclosures. The public should note with consternation the possibility of disclosure of their confidential information by such an individual; and, as such, the GRA would be compelled to act to protect the interest of the public.

For the benefit of Mr. Harmon, I would like to point out that my children were not in any way given any special or peculiar treatment; not in terms of position, salary or status. Both of my sons referred to in the article have worked in junior level positions for several years before being promoted to their current positions, not unlike all other employees of the GRA, and perhaps to their detriment. They are not paid any special salary, as all persons in similar positions are paid exactly the same.

They were subjected to competitive interviews before being employed, and are eminently qualified for the positions for which they were employed and currently hold.

Those interviews are conducted by an independent panel and are given a score rating based on numerous criteria, including education/qualifications, experience, communication skills etc. Appointments to the positions they now hold have to be sanctioned and approved by the Governing Board of the Guyana Revenue Authority, and are not appointments that can be made by me unilaterally or at all.

Furthermore, these promotions have to be recommended by the functional heads of their respective departments, persons who are professionals and are highly competent in their respective fields.

It should be noted that the GRA, and indeed Guyana, has found it difficult to attract and retain these skills. And despite having other opportunities, my children were encouraged to stay and serve their country, our beloved country.

For the benefit of Mr. Harmon, I should indicate that Imran is one of a few Chartered Certified Accountants the GRA has been able to attract, and he is the only person with ACCA qualifications who holds such a junior management position at the GRA.

Riyad has been employed with the GRA for in excess of six years, and is adequately qualified and experienced for the position he now holds. Notwithstanding, he continues to upgrade his qualifications by pursuing further studies in his field.

It should therefore become apparent and evident that there has been no conflict of interest, no peculiar treatment offered to my children, and no impropriety involved, as is insinuated by the article.

Despite the foregoing, further care was taken to ensure there is neither actual nor apparent conflict of interest existing. Special care was exercised to ensure that none of my children has to report to my office; that I am not their supervisory officer; that I am in no way involved in reviewing their work output; that I am not in a position to review their work; that I do not evaluate their work or performance, and that I do not direct their workflow or assignments.

Additionally, there is no conflict of interest, since I am a salaried employee whose only fiduciary or pecuniary interest is in my salary. Similarly, my children referred to in the article are salaried employees serving in positions for which they are adequately or excessively qualified, and they earn salaries that are consistent with those earned by other persons at similar or comparable levels.

Therefore, the suggestions and insinuations by Mr. Harmon, as expressed in the article, are not only baseless, unfounded and spurious, but are offending, and call into question the integrity and professionalism of not only myself, but the senior functional heads of the GRA, the members of the Governing Board, and my children.

Mr. Harmon obviously has his work to do, and if he chooses to gain political mileage at the expense of exposing my children’s life to danger, then I can only be consoled by the thought that if anything detrimental befalls my children, and may God forbid; Mr. Harmon, a lawyer, and here I would not want to reveal anything I know of this honourable person’s worth, but I would imagine that, like the rest of the legal fraternity, Mr. Harmon can pay any damage the court will be asked to award.

I would, however, want to assure Mr. Harmon that I do not intend to publish alongside any advertisement placed in the media in the future that the children and relatives of Mr. Sattaur should not apply. They are all protected by the Constitution of this country, which allows for equal treatment under the law and equal opportunities for employment. I would, however, hope that the article catches the attention of the heads of the international organisations in Guyana, such as Caricom and the European Union, IADB etc, so that my children can be quickly absorbed in their employ, as I would rather suspect that were they to seek employment in the private sector; and further, if they were to be paid out of the public treasury, even more vociferous calls of conflict of interest would be heard.

I collect the revenues from the private sector and pay these revenues into the public treasury. So, in principle, according to Mr. Harmon’s argument, they must not benefit from such monies. Would it not represent a conflict of interest if my children were to be employed by private businesses that are required to pay taxes to the GRA, or have to be audited by the GRA, or if they were to establish private tax consultancy services that represent taxpayers against the GRA? By this reasoning, my children should not be permitted to work! So in the interest of landing my children well paid jobs in these international organisations, let me inform the public that my son who is in the audit department of GRA has the ACCA like his father does, and will presently complete a Masters in Business Administration; and my other son who works in the Information Technology Department of the GRA holds a degree from a prestigious university in India.

I trust that this satisfies Mr. Harmon, and God bless Mr. Customs Officer for helping to secure for my children proper paying jobs with international organisations in Guyana.

Incidentally, my third child, who was a top graduating student in Information Technology at UG, works at the Office of the Auditor General, and he also would like to be considered for a top paying job with an international organisation.

KHURSHID SATTAUR 
Commissioner–General, GRA