BASSETERRE, St. kitts, Officials at the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) are in the process of relocating the operations of the tax agency from atop the Post Office on the Bay Road, to the John Gumbs Building located across the street.
The relocation followed a series of surveys undertaken by the Department and feedback received from customers.
Comptroller at the Inland Revenue Department, Edward Gift, acknowledged that the new, more spacious environment would provide comfort to customers seeking to conduct business with the agency.
He said it provides easy accessibility for the differently abled and others that were challenged in climbing stairs at the former post office-based location.
“Our customers indicated that the location that we were at, upstairs the post office, was a challenge for some of our older customers. In addition, the space constraints did not offer some of our customers the privacy they needed to conduct some of their affairs, also the space required for our customer query was very small.”
The transition will be carried out in two phases, with the first seeing the new location being open on Monday, June 25 with cashiers and other officials dealing with payment being relocated with the second being completed in July.
Gift confirmed that though the changeovers are still being made, plans are already in motion to have a smooth flow when the ribbon is cut, and the doors are officially opened.
“We have a structure in place to deal with those little mishaps that may occur, but we think that the customers are going to be overwhelmed by the new experience and the ability to conduct their affairs in a much faster and private manner at the department,” explained Gift.
He urged that all payments will now be made at the ground floor of the new building.
“Any person having to make any payment at the Inland Revenue Department that was formerly located upstairs the post office, they would now come to the building that is directly opposite the Post Office which is on the ground floor, so they would no long have to deal with challenges with the steps.”
The move will now bring the two operations of the tax collecting agency under one roof, and according to Gift, it will ensure that services provided are better than before.
Speaking to Monday’s opening, Gift revealed that they are hoping to be able to ensure that operations move smoothly and that all persons will “come in and be out” in a quick time.
Monday’s opening will be preceded by a formal ribbon cutting ceremony that will be attended by Prime Minister, Dr. Timothy Harris, Comptroller of Inland Revenue, Edward Gift and a number of other government officials.
