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PPP’s tiny cabal…Govt. must probe their taxes – WPA Executive Member
Executive Member of the Working People’s Alliance (WPA), Dr. David Hinds recently noted that the forensic
WPA Executive Member, Dr. David Hinds
audits which were launched by the coalition administration are revealing quite a lot about how the previous government managed the country’s resources. He observed that there is a clear pattern.
Dr. Hinds said that under the PPP, resources were intentionally steered to a “tiny cabal.”
The University professor said that the “tiny cabal” also includes officials of the PPP, their friends and relatives, a few favoured “house negroes” and selected local and foreign companies.
Dr. Hinds said that based on the findings of the forensic audit reports thus far, it is clear that the national patrimony has been systematically stolen.
“I say ‘systematically’ because I think that this was part of a larger scheme of political domination. The PPP, I think reasoned that political domination, which has been part of the party’s ideological outlook for a long time, is most effective when it is accompanied by economic domination.”
The political activist continued, “The transfer of state assets into private hands therefore was a means to a larger end. A very important question arises from all of this—have these rich people been paying their fair share of taxes on this stolen wealth and the added wealth accrued from them?”
Dr. Hinds said that this is a critical question as he rather suspects that they have not been paying their fair share of taxes. He said that should this be proven, then it means that “Guyanese have been twice shafted”.
“They appropriated the wealth illegally and for next to nothing and on top of that, they do not pay the required taxes. As usual in Guyana, you informally hear stories and then they are later validated as with the government agencies which were audited.”
Dr. Hinds emphasised that taxes constitute a very important part of the national revenue base. He said that the relevant authorities have always had difficulty enforcing the tax code and collecting taxes from the “big shots.”
“I have heard stories of ordinary workers who pay more taxes than private businesses and top professionals. This cannot be fair. My layperson guess is that if the required taxes are collected from the big ones, there would be much more resources for education and health care.”
He stated that there is a direct relationship between corruption in tax collection and socio-economic development. It is for this reason, he said, that it is imperative for the Government to investigate whether the PPP’s tiny cabal has been paying its fair share of taxes.
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Agreed but how do you bell the cat.? There are so many ready to cry foul.