Abdulah: Tax the rich first

MOVEMENT for Justice (MSJ) leader David Abdulah on Sunday called upon the Government to implement the property tax on the business community and not on residential homeowners.

Abdulah made this call during a virtual news conference as he claimed the 2020/2021 budget offered no hope to the population and there will be a rise in the levels of desperation in TT.

Referring to Finance Minister Colm Imbert’s statement in his budget presentation on October 5, about starting the collection of property tax in fiscal 2021, Abdulah said the business community and not residential homeowners should be first to pay the tax.

Arguing that owners of commercial and industrial properties have a greater ability to pay the tax, Abdulah declared, “Let them pay first!” He said with many people losing their jobs or being uncertain of finding employment during the pandemic, it is unfair to burden residential homeowners with paying property tax.

With respect to residential properties, Imbert had said, “We continue to assure property owners that the rate of this tax will be both fair and reasonable and will not present an onerous burden upon them.” Saying special provision should be made for people who are renting properties, Abdulah suggested rent control legislation be brought to Parliament.

Predicting that fuel prices are going to increase once plans to liberalise the liquid petroleum market are implemented, and this will also cause food prices to increase, Abdulah opined, “Many people are going to suffer.”

He warned there could be a continuing social implosion, a rise in domestic violence and in crime overall. Abdulah expressed concern about a significant loss of jobs at the Port of Spain port should its operations be privatised. He said retrenchment of workers at the port in the 1980s saw a “serious decline” in the quality of life in East Port of Spain.

Abdulah reiterated the MSJ’s concerns about the efficiency of operations at the TT Electricity Commission (TT&EC) and the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA). In the case of the former, Abdulah said existing power pay agreements with power suppliers were contributing to TT&EC’s efficiency. On the latter, he said metering would ensure that customers are properly billed for water usage.