Rambharat to 'expose' source of property tax opposition

AGRICULTURE Minister Clarence Rambharat vowed to "expose" where the real opposition to the implementation of property tax is coming from. In his contribution to the budget debate in the Senate, Rambharat charged, "The opposition to property tax in this country is linked to the true ownership of state land, particularly Caroni two-acre (agricultural) parcels and Caroni residential land."

After reiterating that of 3,134 parcels Caroni agricultural land distributed to date, only 512 have been shown to have any type of agriculture on them, Rambharat said he was not surprised by this. He said occupiers of the land are not using it for agriculture but holding out for someone else to use it for commercial, housing or industrial activity.

He said the Estate Management and Business Development Corporation (EMBD) spent $4 billion to develop these plots and said he expected the EMBD to terminate the leases of people who are occupying the land but not using it for agriculture.

Describing these people as "land grabbers," Rambharat said their actions have denied 2.622 families the opportunity to access Caroni agricultural land and put it to productive use.

He told senators, "I am going to come back to this same House and tell you there are people in this country who own 100 of those two-acre parcels and there are people in this country who own 50 of those two-acre parcels, with nothing on it."

Rambharat also said covid19 has sparked a new interest in farming in TT.

Saying he shows examples of quality local produce on his Facebook page, Rambharat was confident the country had the ability to feed itself and the capacity to boost the agricultural sector further.