Lucas admits gov’t documents stored outside GRA

– Cites security, confidentiality concerns at GRA
– Says work outweighs stipends, other benefits

July 9, 2016, http://guyanachronicle.com/luc...-stored-outside-gra/

RAWLE Lucas, the chairman of the board of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) has admitted that highly sensitive government documents are stored at his office at the Critchlow Labour College because of his concerns about security and confidentiality. In a letter to the newspaper, Mr Lucas said the GRA headquarters was cramped for work and storage space and it would have been imprudent and inconsiderate of him to take up office there.

Rawle Lucas

Mr Lucas claimed that neither does he work at the college nor is his office there paid for by the government. He said he has filing cabinets in the office where he stores government documents.

“Taxpayers ought to know that the office of the Board Secretary was broken into in an attempt to access sensitive and confidential taxpayer information which comes before the Board.

“GRA had to take extra measures to protect the office of the Board Secretary and its information from its own staff since the act was considered an inside job.

“I therefore do not have anything further to say about trust and confidentiality at GRA and the extent to which staff members are harassed to violate taxpayers’ privacy,” Lucas stated.

Mr Lucas was responding to an anonymous letter which suggested that he was abusing his authority and awarding benefits to himself at the expense of the authority. He said he felt the need for the public to understand the context in which he delivers service to the GRA.

Regarding the refrigerator in his office, Mr Lucas said it is stocked with his own money, and as for the sofa in his office, that too had not been bought by the GRA.

He said he receives a stipend of G$10, 500 a month, after taxes are deducted, and uses it to buy gas and pay for maintenance of the car he drives.

Mr Lucas did not respond to the writer’s suggestions that he was making unilateral decisions and that his actions have resulted in low staff morale.

He said that though the stipend is not even close to the minimum wage, he accepted it because of the confidence that was placed in him to help make GRA a better place for staff and taxpayers.

“GRA does not buy gas for me. It offered to do so and I refused the offer. I turn in the vehicle to GRA whenever I am not using it,” he stated.

Mr Lucas said that at the beginning of his term, GRA had offered him benefits far greater than the stipend he receives and he refused.

He said that while the board meets once per month, he gets “substantial amounts of work” sent to him by the GRA on a daily basis and at times management requests his presence at its headquarters for meetings as often as three times per week.

“I comply because of what I see as the genuine efforts of elements of the organisation’s management to bring positive changes to the entity,” Lucas stated.

Consequently, he said the issues of convenience and cost come into play.

“Not only will I have to give up my personal time waiting for transportation to visit GRA headquarters, but under those circumstances, I will end up spending more money than the monthly stipend.

“While I am prepared to serve the administration and to go the extra mile as necessary, I do not think that I should be expected to subsidise the government.

“It is in that context that the convenience of the car which I drive and the facilities provided become very important,” he stated.

“I requested support from GRA to have its work done and I was given the support.

He said it would have been difficult for him to understand and address much of the challenges of the organisation at GRA board meetings and to meet the many demands made of me by its management and others in the government without the valuable input of his assistant.

He indicated that the issues are plentiful and, while he may not be compensated adequately for his efforts, he remains motivated by the commitment of the dedicated staff members and dutiful taxpayers.

With regard to his work at the University of Guyana, Mr Lucas said he has had discussions with the university on “the way forward.” Mr Lucas serves as a finance lecturer at the University. The anonymous letter writer pointed out that one of Mr Lucas’ students serves as his assistant.

The assistant, one Ms Alfred, was defended by Mr Lucas.

“The issues are plentiful and thorny and her effort at analysing and summarizing documents, at researching issues and at developing briefs is of invaluable help to me.”

Mr Lucas said many of his students work at GRA but that he “never” marked the exam papers for any of the classes that he taught.

“In all instances, the papers were marked by a third party,” Mr Lucas stated. He said that he has been in discussion with the University regarding his employment there since March, 2016.

Further, he said the concerns that he has about revenues have nothing to do with the economy, and that “the condition of our revenues will be addressed in the future.”