State received $382m from unemployment levy

FOR the years 2016, 2017 and 2018, the State received a total of $382.4 million from the unemployment levy.

According to the Inland Revenue Division, the unemployment levy is a tax charged at the rate of five per cent on the taxable profits of petroleum companies.

West disclosed the total funds received by the State over a three-year period as she responded to questions in Senate yesterday.

However, when Opposition Senators asked how the levy had made an impact on unemployment or how the money had been used to benefit the population, Senate President Christine Kangaloo did not allow the questions.

In an earlier question, Energy Minister Franklin Khan said the Petroleum register had been instituted but was not updated.

He said some information was available online on the ministry's website but actual licenses and contracts were not available.

"It was always instituted, it has not been updated as we would like but we are working feverishly to get it current. Confidentiality clauses stymie the process. In the energy sector we are subject to significant commercial confidentiality clauses. It is a fact of this country," Khan said.

Case by Case basis for blood donors with Malaria

Responding to a question on behalf of the Minister of Health, Agriculture Minister Clarence Rambharat said the ministry's policy regarding blood donations from people who suffered with malaria depended on the type of malaria and the nature of the treatment.

The question, which came from Opposition Senator Taharqa Obika, asked the minister to advise as to the policy of the blood bank with respect to donors who suffered with malaria in the past.

"Certain types of malaria can linger in the body for up to 15 years. The healthcare provider makes a decision on a cases by case business depending on the history of the person donating blood," Rambharat said.

When Obika contextualised the question by reflecting on people coming from Venezuela, Rambharat said the policy was the same.

"You can come from Mars, it depends on the type of malaria."