Opposition Leader: Who benefits from exemptions?

Opposition Leader Kamla Persad- Bissessar is calling on government to release the names of the entities which have benefitted from the exemptions to customs duties as laid out in the third schedule in the Customs Act Chap. 78:01.

During debate on a motion laid in Parliament on Wednesday by Trade and Industry Minister Paula Gopee-Scoon, Persad-Bissessar said the minister had not given quantifiable data to show the exemptions had benefitted the economy over the last few years.

The exemptions are for approved industries, approved agriculture, livestock, forestry and fisheries, approved hotels, approved mining purposes, and other approved purposes.

Persad-Bissessar said the exemptions had been offered by governments since 1959, but there had been no tracking of who benefits from the measures or even if there is a benefit.

She said, in the last three years Central Bank data showed there had been a decline in agricultural production, and it was clear that the exemptions were not benefiting broad categories of farmers.

Persad-Bissessar said exemptions would not help with the growth and expansion of the tourism sector as the PNM government had repeatedly under-resourced the sector.

She cited a report by the Trinidad Hotels, Restaurants and Tourism Association which said the government disbanded the Tourism Development Corporation without proper succession planning, and also did not rehire international public relations and marketing companies.

On the mining sector, she asked, “Which PNM financiers have benefitted from benefits in mining sectors? Who are the entities that benefitted or are benefiting from these exemptions? How much have they benefitted? Have any state lands been gifted for mining purposes recently?”

In response, Laventille West MP Fitzgerald Hinds said Persad-Bissessar did not mention the $500 million allocation and the lifting of taxes from the agriculture sector.

He named some of the 26 entities in the agricultural sector which had benefitted from the exemptions, including Arawak and Co, Carmel Valley Estate, Central Farms, Christine Frank, Crispin Alleyne, Erin Farm Ltd, Fine Choice Meats Ltd, Floyd's Poultry Farms Ltd, Hare Krishna Seedlings, Hindustan Egg Farm, Ian P Serrao, Kazim Baksh, and Kent Farms Ltd.

“Everyone of those who benefitted from those concessions and who call on the government constantly to provide them, they employ thousands of people in that industry, creating jobs and keeping the economy afloat. When the big businesses use the concessions to bring in raw materials, it filters down to the micro, small and medium enterprises and we are focused on that for the benefit of the whole economy.”