Latest update April 18th, 2024 12:59 AM
Dec 21, 2012 News
– Opposition denies 170 million more
The government yesterday revealed that it has spent a whopping $480 million (US$2.4M) to modify the former Clico building on Camp Street, Georgetown, and wanted a further $170 million to complete it for rental to the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA).
However, the opposition Parliamentary parties, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance for Change (AFC), voted against the additional spending.
The building now belongs to the National Insurance Scheme, and Minister within the Ministry of Finance Juan Edghill said that the GRA would offset the cost that the government has spent on the building.
Edghill said that there have been negotiations on a rental agreement, but while figures have been “floated”, no concrete or final price has been arrived at.
However, APNU Parliamentarian Jaipaul Sharma, expressed surprise that certain branches of the GRA have already moved into the building, but no tenancy agreement has been concluded.
Edghill said that the GRA is consolidating its offices in one location and hence the building had to be modified to accommodate all of its operations.
The money was spent on installing the Authority’s Information Technology, a supply of “clean power,” the installation of cubicles and telecommunication facilities, putting in place a fire escape, and other construction, such as a lunch room and filing rooms.
Edghill said that several sections of the GRA have moved in already and that before December 31, other sections would also move in.
The additional $170 million the government sought, it said, was to cover “critical works” in order to facilitate the GRA’s relocation.
A task force was appointed to oversee the exercise from its many Georgetown-based locations to the former CLICO building.
Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr. Roger Luncheon had indicated that the task force was working closely with GRA to complete the shift to the new premises by the end of this month.
Already, rented facilities such as the one previously housing the VAT Unit have been vacated and the staff relocated to Camp Street.
Dr. Luncheon had said that in order to accommodate the hundreds of GRA staff and the thousands of daily customers, the Camp Street facility needed significant and continuous upgrading and particularly, proper management of facilities.
The 200/201 Camp Street property was purchased by CLICO from the Guyana Sugar Corporation in 2005. The property with a size of 36,863 square feet was valued between $1.7B and $1.8B by the valuator contracted by the insurance company, while the government valuator placed it at $1.316B, a difference of more than $400M.
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