By Alva Solomon
A SENIOR Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) enforcement official has been sent on leave, and two junior officers were given marching orders in an incident involving a truckload of chicken suspected to have been smuggled into the country from neigbouring Suriname. The instructions were handed down this week. In September, a truck in Berbice heading to Georgetown with approximately 400 packets of chicken was stopped by the police at a roadblock.
The police later arrested two officers who were attached to GRA’s Marine Operations Unit (MOU) after they had suspected that the operation was illegal.
When contacted yesterday, GRA Head Kurhsid Sattaur elected not to comment on the matter.
But a GRA source told the Guyana Chronicle yesterday that on the day in question, the vehicle was being escorted by the two enforcement officers who were reportedly working in collusion with the smugglers.
The police were not familiar with the two GRA officers. This was strange, as the police work closely with the GRA enforcement officers and they have a close working relationship.
According to reports, the senior official who heads the GRA Enforcement Division had intervened and attempted to have the two junior officers released.
Reports indicate that the chickens are owned by a senior official at the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU).
Following investigations, the GRA this week took the decision to dismiss the two officers while the senior officer was sent on leave.
A source explained that the two dismissed ranks are marine officers and on the day in question, they were expected to travel to Port Kaituma, Region 1, as part of their official duties.
However, the ranks even after processing documents relevant to those out-of-town duties, remained in the city and later travelled to Berbice.
After the officers’ encounter with the police, GRA sources reported that the senior official in question attempted to sweep the matter under the carpet. The police however launched an investigation into the incident. Some GRA staffers were reportedly disgusted by the incident.
“They doing it a while now… these men make millions by allowing these things to happen and the genuine ones in GRA would get the blame for their greed with money,” one employee told this newspaper.
The GRA has in the past been affected by fraudulent activities of its staff.
Employees yesterday told this newspaper that the culture of bribery within the organisation needs to be dealt with accordingly.