A letter to the President & Finance Minister

Mar 07, 2017 Letters

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Dear Editor,
Please allow me a few columns in your newspaper to reproduce this letter directly addressed to the two above-mentioned leaders of government. I wish to express my frustration and dissatisfaction with the President & Finance Minister’s decision to add 14% VAT on Private Education Tuition.
Firstly, Mr. President during your elections campaign you promised “A Good Life for all”, by adding VAT on education is this your referral to a good life? I can vividly remember when you and your ministers walked the streets pleading with the citizens to support you and the promises you made, but like the great legend said: “Promises are a comfort to a fool”, and THANK YOU VERY MUCH Mr. President for making us FOOLS. Unbelievably you have the audacity to say and I use a quite from the media which reported you; “President Granger said there is sympathy for the families and students who will be faced with the tax on school fees, “but there are other things that will be explained by the Finance Minister”.
How can you not have any “sympathy” for the persons who are going to bear this burden Mr. President? When every parent including students are appealing to you and your government to reverse the decision; but you turn a deaf ear and a blind eye. As a parent and a student I find this act by your administration callous and ruthless. Knowing there was a call for a protest on February 28, 2017 at 12:00hrs your government is alleged to have said on February 27, 2017 there would be the removal of VAT on education fees. Two days after the Govt. backpedalled on its own words. This act could only be described as a political game to destabilize the protest. Please bear in mind Mr. President you were elected by the people, to serve the people!
I am appalled to know some persons are contending that “they went to public school and they turned out ok”, I also attended public school and yes I did turn out ok, but in my day you did not have a lack of teachers for various subjects, or teachers being lackadaisical. We had mature men and women who acted as role models in our lives. I can reminisce on some of the advice and teaching I received from persons like Mr. Henry Rodney, Ms. Fung, Ms. Peters, Ms. Seeta Coonja, Ms. Sarah Doodnauth, etc. Sadly the same cannot be compared today. Most of these graduate teachers can be found teaching in private institutions today.
Mr. Winston Jordan Hon. Minister of Finance, I would like to bring to your attention that adding 14% VAT on private tuition because the private schools are non-compliant with their taxes is not going to be a burden to the private institution; it will be an added burden to the parents and guardians like myself. We are already faced with VAT on water, light, certain medical facilities, groceries; the list can go on and on.
You mention that the schools and parents should find “creative” ways into paying this tax; do you care to explain how this is possible? I have already received a notice from the private school my child attends informing me about the VAT that will be added to the school fees including the current term since this tax is effective as at January 01, 2017. The schools will in no way be affected by this new tax law since they will pass on the cost to their customers. Therefore, Mr. Jordan with all due respect, STOP insulting our intelligence. You and your fellow Ministers were all given a 50% increase in salary, therefore you must find a way for sustaining your super salary, and by doing so you place the burden on the poor working class Guyanese. We pay PAYE from our salaries before it is given to us, we pay VAT on all our services needed, food items, medical bills, and so much more. Where will we get the income to supplement and sustain our lifestyle? “We contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle”. Winston Churchill
Please remember Mr. Jordan, I do vividly recall, the following words below are your words accusing the Former President and current Opposition Leader Mr. Bharrat Jagdeo: (Copied from GT Mosquito Facebook Page June 09, 2015) “Jordan quotes Cheddi Jagan saying we can’t live Cadillac lifestyle with jackass economy. Says the late Jagan would’ve been appalled at the existing Act and would have supported the change”.
In closing, Mr. Winston Jordan Hon. Minister of Finance & Mr. David Granger Hon. President of Guyana; “You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time” quoted by Abraham Lincoln.
A. Ramoutar

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