VAT on childbirth

Mar 08, 2017 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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What took place yesterday at the Office of the Leader of the Opposition and at the headquarters of the Special Organized Crime Unit (SOCU) was a contrived “pappy show”.
The government has to satisfy its financers that it is going to jail leaders of the PPPC and therefore it is under severe pressure to do something, after a series of audits failed to establish the massive corruption which the APNU+AFC coalition said, had existed under the PPPC administration.
The SOCU is now attempting to move civilly against leaders of the PPPC, most likely for malfeasance in office, on the basis that many of these leaders acquired properties from the State below market value.
It is a most ridiculous state of affairs, but politics is a game of high comedy… and tragedy, sadly. What we are witnessing is political drama intended to provide entertainment, on the one hand, and dish out public humiliation on the other. It is intended to shame the Leader of the Opposition by having his name paraded in the overseas media that he was arrested.
The PPPC, however, is made of sterner stuff. It will survive whatever the APNU+AFC administration throws at it. It will cause party supporters to cuddle closer under the PPPC’s wing. When political leaders are being victimized and witch-hunted, their support actually soars.
APNU+AFC is looking for its own political boost from the so-called SOCU investigations. But it will find that the public is no mood for political theatrics at this stage.
The public is hurting from the burden of the taxes which are now payable on electricity, water, visits to the doctors, medical tests, tuition fees for private education, internet and cable television services.
Every child who is born at a private hospital in Guyana now comes into this world with a VAT tab. Childbirth at private hospitals now attracts VAT. This is how bizarre the tax measures of the government are.
People are afraid to go to private hospitals. Even if the doctor can save you, the VAT on the cost of his services may cause you to get a heart attack. The public did not cater for these things. They have come like a thief in the night to steal away the comforts of Guyanese consumers.
The public is still waiting on the meagre 2% reduction in VAT to filter down to them. Prices in the markets have not decreased; on the contrary they are increasing. The parking meter issue has enraged citizens. Businesses are stagnating. Money is not circulating.
There is a de facto 5 % devaluation of the dollar, with reports that some persons are being forced to pay more for foreign currency on the blackmarket because, despite what the government is saying, foreign currency is still hard to obtain from the banks.
The economy is in deep problems; the tax burden is heavy. The government cannot even spend the money at its disposal. Just like when the PNC was in power, the APNU+AFC coalition has a dismal implementation ratio. The Permanent Secretaries are being made scapegoats for the failure of the political directorate and the favoured contractors who cannot fully execute the Public Sector Investment Programme.
The arrests of yesterday are all part of an attempt to deflect from the deep crisis in the economy. The public is not going to be impressed, even though some of them will enjoy the sight of the humiliation which leaders of the opposition party are facing. The PPP has been down this road before. It plays to the objective of portraying their leaders as victims of a political witch-hunt.
The public do not want to know about who did not pay market value for house lots. The public wants to know who stole money, where the money is, and how soon we will get it back, if indeed it is stolen. The public is not interested in market value for house lots. Everyone who got a government house lot, got it below market value.
Last year, the Ministry of Housing advertised a special deal in which it gave 50% discount to house lot owners as part of a promotion for Guyana’s 50th anniversary. Those who benefited from that arrangement had better be wary that SOCU does not pull them in an accuse them of obtaining their house lots at half of the market value.
This is the absurdity of any investigation about ex-government officials and them not paying market value for their land. Thousands of home owners in Guyana received subsidized house lots from the government. Are they too going to be arrested by SOCU?
This is all a pappy show. Except that no one is amused anymore.
People want to know when they will get their increases in salaries from all the billions of extra dollars which will now be collected because of the widening of VAT to certain services. Teachers want to know when they will receive their duty free concessions. Parents are worried about finding something to put in their children’s lunch kit each day.
People are feeling the pinch while the government is persecuting the opposition.

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