(Jamaica Gleaner) Biting criticism of and widespread disgust with the Government’s latest tax package has forced the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) government into reverse gear as it changes course on measures deemed by many to be “oppressive”.
At the same time, the opposition People’s National Party (PNP) has planned peaceful protests for today at different locations across the country, as it calls on the Government to roll back the taxes.
Up to yesterday, Cabinet members were at Jamaica House working feverishly to revise the taxation package announced by Finance and Public Service Minister Audley Shaw last Thursday.
A government source told The Gleaner that some of the taxes, which triggered a public backlash, have been rolled back.
Up for review
Following a chorus of objection to the new taxes from various sectors of the economy, the opposition PNP and ordinary Jamaicans, Prime Minister Golding said on Sunday that his administration would review the new measures.
On Monday, Opposition Leader Portia Simpson Miller made a formal request to Prime Minister Bruce Golding to delay the implementation of the tax package.
In a letter to Golding, the opposition leader asked that Parliament be given the opportunity to consider and debate any revised proposals before they were introduced.
“I am making these requests in light of my strongly held position that Parliament is the appropriate forum for consideration and approval of all taxation measures,” Simpson Miller outlined in her letter.
Simpson Miller had signalled that the PNP would take to the streets in peaceful protests against the measures.
General Secretary of the PNP, Peter Bunting, met Monday with acting Commissioner of Police Owen Ellington to discuss the parameters for staging a peaceful protest.
In an interview on Radio Jamaica, Bunting said the party requested permission to stage peaceful protests today in at least six major towns.
Dunstan Whittingham, president of the Jamaica Vendors, Higglers and Markets Association, said the new taxes would send consumption down.
“What we think is that it cuts the spending power of the Jamaican people. People will have to be cutting back on items, things that they drink and eat.”
He is calling on the administration to examine alternative areas, such as increasing taxes on government bonds.
Whittingham also wants a higher rate of taxes on appliances, which use a higher voltage of electricity, such as flat-screen televisions and refrigerators.
