BRA’s return welcomed by customers

Barbadians gave the thumbs up for Barbados Revenue Authority (BRA) operations at the Barbados Licensing Authority (BLA) Pine, St Michael headquarters that got underway on Monday.

Customers who conducted business at the location told a Barbados TODAY team they were pleased with their experience.

Renovations were completed at the facility over the weekend, in time for BRA to open its doors at 8 a.m.

Minister of Transport, Works, and Water Resources Santia Bradshaw said the BRA cashiers were brought back to the Pine to make doing business there much easier in the coming weeks.

She commended the staff of the BLA’s Vehicle Administration Department who had moved to another area of the Authority to accommodate the BRA employees.

“We will fine-tune, we will continue to listen to the public as it relates to anything that we can improve, and we will do that over the course of this week,” she said.

Bradshaw added that renovations will soon begin on the space earmarked for BRA’s permanent home, with the tendering process being completed last week and contracts set to be issued to contractors in short order.

The Transport Minister said the renovations are estimated to take four weeks.

Bradshaw was on-site on Monday, even before BRA opened its doors, to welcome members of the public who sat under tents socially distanced to comply with COVID-19 protocols.

She said from interacting with customers, people were generally pleased with the move back to the Pine after having to go to BRA’s office in Warrens and then back to the BLA to complete their transactions.

The Minister said despite a few adjustments that have to be made, she was satisfied the best decision was made.

Jason King, the first customer to conduct business at the location, described his experience as a refreshing change.

He welcomed the adjustments and expressed the hope that they would be maintained.

“I just have high hopes. I am optimistic. It was a quick process. You got in and they were very thorough and very professional. So I gave them an A. I know what it was like before and this compared to that is a stark difference,” King said.

After completing his transaction, Patrick Forde said he had also seen improvements.

“They still have some things to iron out, but it is a new system and so far so good. I did not have to wait long to get my transaction done. We can only get better from here once we follow the system that is being put in place today,” he said.
(AH)