Cabinet has approved the acquisition of a new container scanner for the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA). Minister of State, Joseph Harmon made this revelation at a Post- Cabinet media briefing, at the Ministry of the Presidency.
He said that a contract worth $34.2M was awarded to Massey Technologies Limited, a subsidiary of Massey Group of Companies. The scanner will be used at wharfs where there is container traffic, Minister Harmon said.
The lack of such equipment previously, the Minister added, resulted in goods and imported products being diverted to other facilities. He said, “Every time you hear of a major drug bust, it came from containers originating in a next country, but in many cases would have passed through Guyana.”
Very serious steps, he stressed must be taken to address this country’s image as a known drug trans-shipment point. “We have to work assiduously to correct that,” Harmon stated.
Previously there were challenges in using a facility which was purchased by the previous Administration, Minister Harmon explained. He noted that it was difficult to turn around container trucks where one of two scanners was housed in Lombard Street.
There was also an attempt to use the National Park Tarmac for scanning containers with another mobile unit but this, he said, proved to be “a disaster and the tarmac was damaged in a serious way.”
