GAM to advocate for duty-free concession on municipal vehicles

President of the Guyana Association of Municipalities (GAM), Carwyn Holland has noted that he will be vocal and will be forwarding proposals to Government for municipalities to be granted duty-free concessions on municipal vehicles. Holland, whose mayorship with the Linden Mayor and Town Council (LM&TC) came to an end on Wednesday, has also noted difficulty during his tenure in acquiring duty-free concession to clear two compactor trucks which the municipality had purchased since last year. He noted that the municipality instead decided to pay duty on the trucks which it is still awaiting as they could not be cleared in a timely manner. He said he would have written and consulted with the relevant Ministries to be granted duty-free, however it was not done in the correct order. He noted that he was also advised in writing of the correct procedure to follow and further advised that there was nothing in the Act to grant municipalities duty-free concessions. He said while the duty-free concession was not denied, and the correct procedure facilitated since the Council was so badly in need of the trucks, it decided to pay the duty on the compactor trucks. “From GAM level, I’m calling for municipalities to be given duty-free…I believe all the Mayors will share the same view that we need a turnaround for the municipal organs. We need to be afforded free concessions… Check the other occupations, check and see who else getting duty-free, several persons… Why then, the municipal organs, much less the municipalities can’t get a duty-free. Something is wrong. There’s no equity,” he noted.
Municipalities serve communities, so it is only fitting that they be afforded duty-free concessions, pointing out that even the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) organs are granted duty-free. The GAM President said at the level of the Association, municipal leaders would have already voted for Councillors, Mayors and Deputy Mayors to receive duty-free, however, he noted that they did not advocate specifically for duty-free on municipal machines and vehicles.