Vampire Around Town (VAT)

Aug 17, 2008 Features / Columnists

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Peter R. Ramsaroop, MBA Chairman, Vision Guyana

INTRODUCTION:
As I continue to travel around the country and even visiting the Diaspora in many countries, I am faced with the question, ‘why hasn’t the government listened to the citizens on the excessive VAT we pay?’

I will not stop writing or speaking or lobbying about this until we get our Government to listen to the cry of our citizens.

Our lifeline is being sucked out of us daily as we go to the grocery store or buy other needed items. When we get our phone bills, there is 16% added; when we go out to eat, there is 16% added to the already high cost of food; when I paid my accountant fees to do my taxes, there was 16% added to my bill; and when I pay my electric bill every month, a whopping 16% is added to it. Tell me if this is not a Vampire sucking all our hard earned dollars.

Even on the zero rated items such as school stationery, we are being charged VAT. Vampires never stop wanting blood, there is now 75% more money collected by the government. Where is it?

Every Sunday, part of my column is always dedicated to our excessive and burdensome tax system where our people are becoming lifeless.

Sugar workers are on strike again. Last year they marched in Berbice on strike with a banner that VAT was killing them.

We have shouted loud, wide, and hard about a comprehensive overhaul of our tax system and proposed an increase in the tax threshold.

We will continue to do so. In the meantime let us now put pressure on the government to spend OUR VAT money on us, especially our children. “They are our Today”

FOOD BITING HARD – CONSUMERS FEEL HUNGER PANGS

Going to the market to buy basic food items for a family of four will put you back about $2000 and that would probably last for two days. Multiply that by another 28 days and many will feel those hunger pangs.

We know seasonal items have all increased due to the flooding in many areas. Zero-rated items include cooking oil, margarine, cooking salt, unflavoured crackers, matches, soap power, dish washing liquid and locally produced garments.

Other zero-rated items include rice, sugar, potatoes, milk, onion, garlic, split peas and bread.

As I mentioned before, zero-rating items does not bring the cost down, because the cost to produce is all taxed at 16%.

Look at my example: the electricity and phone are taxed at 16%. Who do you think the business will pass that on to? Us the consumers.

Government policy of zero-rating items is nothing but empty words, as it does nothing to the prices of goods.

SCHOOL TOILETS – What is Hygiene?

With school about to begin in September, I am wondering what has been done on our call for this to be done over the summer holidays. We have done a survey with many school children, teachers and parents.

Apart from a shortage of teachers in our schools, which is still rated number one, the second is toilets.

Most of us as parents would rather take our children in the grass than have them sit on the toilets in our primary and secondary schools.

In addition, there is no water for them to wash their hands. When last did you visit your children’s school and inspect the facilities? In addition, why is hygiene not taught in school?

They are including foreign languages at the primary level, but what is more important than the health of the children, which should be our main focus.

And those schools that do teach hygiene, when the children go out to the washrooms they do not have any potable water to practice safe hygiene?

A child spends most of the day in school, not at home. PLEASE SPEND THE EXCESS VAT ON TOILETS.

LIGHT RAIL SYSTEM- A Study, NOW.

We have proposed this before. Many cities around the world are installing light rail systems. It is a very cost effective and cheap transportation means.

Given our congestion and especially the fatalities of our young school children on the road, we need to come up with better alternatives than telling our children to tell minibus drivers to slow down.

We should commission a study to put a light rail system along the East Coast and East Bank roads. Given global warming issues, emissions, light rail systems are becoming a plus to the carbon-emission issues.

Imagine what a light rail system will do to our ease of transportation in and out of the city versus being stuck in traffic for hours on the East Bank highway trying to get to work on time.

PLEASE SPEND THE EXCESS VAT ON THIS STUDY. (http://www.lightrailnow.org/) We have made other calls for public transportation for school children over and over.

SCHOOL TEACHERS- salary increases?

Recently I met with residents in a village in the Rupununi. They were pleased that the government had built a school but were very angry there were no teachers. Some families, who had the means, sent their children to town this month to get them some needed lessons.

Where are the big increases for our School Teachers? These are the people that shape our children everyday, yet they are the poorest paid in our country.

Please, let us increase their wages so high that it attracts the best and brightest to want to stay and guide our TODAY into the FUTURE. LET US SPEND THE EXCESS VAT ON OUR TEACHERS.

There are many more examples that we can advocate for. With the help of the United States of America, United Kingdom, Canada, and other donor funding agencies, the Ministry of Health has been able to do a lot for our citizens on healthcare issues.

It shows how the right influence and resources can make a difference in our country.

I commend the Minister of Health for following international protocol in many of the programs he has instituted and for his relentless passion in promoting a healthier community.

He must, now, take on the safety and well being of our children as discussed above to truly build a healthier community.

CONCLUSION:

GRA’s booklet on VAT states this: “However, overall, a net increase in the cost of living is not expected. In addition, there are many goods that are subject to the payment of 30% consumption tax, and the prices of these goods are expected to decrease since the goods will be subject to the payment of VAT at a rate of 16%.”

This NEVER happened. We are faced with the Vampire Around Town (VAT) every day, and we hope the Vagabond Attacking our Throats (VAT) everyday will soon stop.

Let us reduce the VAT to 7% and as I will forecast now, when “We Guyana” have more money to spend in our pockets we will start to see an improvement in our economy.

Email: Peter.ramsaroop@gmail.com or www.visionguyana.com

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