COMMISSIONER General of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), Khurshid Sattaur, said that he is looking to revise his systems to avert a repeat of the find in Jamaica last week of cocaine in a container loaded with lumber, since such occurrences could potentially give Guyana a bad name.
Further, he is denying that one person is in custody of the GRA in relation to the bust, which made the headlines in the Jamaica Observer. The report saying that one person was in custody of the GRA appeared in another section of the local media.
Speaking on the claims that a person was being held, Sattaur said that he knows of no such apprehension of anyone by the GRA. “We are doing our own internal investigations and will [adjust our systems] to ensure more transparency,” he said.
“I was told by a Senior GRA Officer that whenever lumber is shipped, the GFC is there to inspect the containers,” he said.
“This hand-washing by the various agencies is very frustrating,” he said, adding that the main function of the GRA is to collect revenue.
“I don’t collect revenue from cocaine…I bring integrity to the GRA and to the country when I discover cocaine. Why must I do it alone when others also have that responsibility?” said an irate Sattaur. “I can’t see that in the past we used to have an engagement and suddenly it is gone,” Sattaur stated.
Further, he said that he was asked to attend a meeting at the Guyana Forestry Commission convened yesterday to examine the issue.
The GFC had at length explained its role in the certification of lumber products for exportation and said that no time does the entity process or clear shipments for export.
“For the sake of clarity, therefore, the GFC states publicly that it has absolutely no role in the “clearing,” the packing of, or even the processing of containers for export.

“We wish to place again on record that our job (as it relates to the export of forest produce) is to ensure that the forest produce destined for export has been properly graded and satisfies all of the other export procedures,” the GFC said in an earlier release.
The GFC said that it is currently actively collaborating with the GRA, the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) and the relevant Jamaican and other counterparts “to identify and bring the perpetrators
responsible for this criminal act to justice.”

Further, the GFC said its investigations to date have been very revealing. “However, in the interest of allowing the relevant agencies to properly and impartially execute their mandate, we have, and will continue to furnish these agencies with our findings,” the GFC said in a release on Monday.