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FM
Former Member

THINGS WHICH THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD DO

August 29, 2015 | By | Filed Under Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom, Source

 

The government has shown its experience. It takes more than an old head to get things right with a National Budget.

 

Mistakes were to be expected. The government was replacing one that was in power for twenty-three years and therefore some accommodation has to be made for lack of familiarity with running a country.

 

But when you can pass laws which granted autonomy to certain offices and then prepare estimates which are inconsistent with the intentions of the new law, it causes concern as to why these mistakes were made.

 

It is hoped that the new government, which is keen on diagnosing the ills of the economy and society, will take steps to investigate how the blunders with the estimates were made. Even if this is for internal housekeeping purposes only, it should be done so as to avoid the same thing happening again.

 

No one is asking, as yet, for heads to roll. Enough heads are being rolled already to add more to that list. But some form of accountability for the blunders has to be made to see what can be done to make the system better and avoid the embarrassment that took place.

 

One of the disappointing features of the work of the Committee of Supply was the answers given to many questions. In far too many instances there were replies to questions that indicated that the information requested would be supplied subsequently. This is unacceptable when one considers that the various Ministers are allowed to have their technical personnel at their side when answering questions. There should have been more information available at hand.

 

The PPP did promise that it would provide rigorous oversight. The government should have been better prepared. It also should have allowed for more days for the consideration of the estimates, even though the hours were extremely long.

 

There are still many questions unanswered that should be answered. For example, the opposition has claimed that certain sums have not been identified. The Ministry of Finance should make a list of all the unanswered questions and provide the answers. Guyanese voted for greater transparency and they are going to be disappointed with anything less.

 

Now that the Budget has been passed, the big question is whether it is capable of stimulating the economy to achieve growth in the last half, and particularly in the last quarter.

 

There is another major problem. The gold miners have been offered increased concessions, because it was felt that production was falling and there was a need for incentives to boost production. Now we are learning about massive gold smuggling. If this is true, it means the basis for the concessions does not exist. It means that there has been production, except it is not being recorded, since a great deal of gold is being smuggled.

 

The government should not be afraid to renegotiate with the gold miners if it is felt that there has been no real fall in production.

 

Finally, the government should explain how it is that when oil prices fell to below $60 per barrel, the PPP was able to reduce the price of gasoline by hundreds of dollars but now that prices are falling far lower, the new government can only reduce the price by $11 per litre.

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One of the disappointing features of the work of the Committee of Supply was the answers given to many questions. In far too many instances there were replies to questions that indicated that the information requested would be supplied subsequently. This is unacceptable when one considers that the various Ministers are allowed to have their technical personnel at their side when answering questions. There should have been more information available at hand.

 

THINGS WHICH THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD DO, August 29, 2015 | By | Filed Under Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom, Source

More disappointments will continue, not only from this committee but from all areas of the government.

FM

Berbice Bridge, CLICO investments were “criminal” – Finance Minister

AUGUST 29, 2015 | BY  | FILED UNDER NEWS 

– NIS lost US$9M as a result; Consolidated Fund may have to rescue scheme from drowning in losses

 

By Kiana Wilburg

The business of the National Assembly was wrapped up yesterday afternoon, with Finance Minister Winston Jordan reading the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill for the second time and it was passed.

But since he was on the issue of tax, Jordan felt it necessary to speak about the state of the National Insurance Scheme (NIS), with particular reference to the investments made by the company into CLICO and the Berbice River Bridge during the rule of the People’s Progressive Party Civic.

The Finance Minister said that the billion-dollar investments into those two entities have “hurt us all”. He described them as being rather “reckless” investments, but said that it is even beyond this. His colleagues on the eastern side of the House suggested to him, a more fitting term. They told him, “It’s not reckless, it’s criminal.”

To this Jordan retorted, “Yes I like that word, criminal. It was indeed criminal.”

The Finance Minister said that when Guyanese make their contributions to NIS, it is expected that during times of difficulty and old age, that money would be there to assist. He said that it is expected that NIS would be prudent with its investments, especially with taxpayers’ resources which are faithfully contributed every month.

“So Mr. Speaker, all of us were hurt at the reckless investment by NIS into CLICO resulting in the impairment of over $5.6B. Between 2009 to now, NIS has lost $1.8B and if this was not criminal enough, NIS again made another suspect investment into the Berbice Bridge of nearly $1B to which they are still to collect income on,” Jordan said.

He added, “So essentially, NIS is now in the position where it is eating into its capital to make even the minimal benefits to its contributors. This cannot continueâ€ĶWe will have to move swiftly and come up with a strategy, and it won’t be easy. That approach includes entrenching in NIS, mechanisms to ensure it can never again do anything as reckless as this. ”

Members on the Government’s side slammed their desks in approval.

The Finance Minister continued, “We don’t want the scenario that when we are ready for our benefits we can’t get it, and actually that is the situation now because it continues to lose. It can’t give full benefits and I believe that the Consolidated Fund at the end of the day may be asked to make good on this loss”.

But Jordan’s statements apparently incensed Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo. Jagdeo could not resist the temptation of taking the floor to defend the investments made into the two companies under the PPP.

He accused the Finance Minister of using the time allotted to read a Bill to score political points. The Opposition Leader then attacked the contents of the 2015 budget which was passed on Friday last, and even sought to bring the integrity of the Finance Minister into question with various accusations.

Jagdeo then called for a debate on the matter after what seemed to be his budget debate presentation—Part two. But Jordan refused to respond to Jagdeo and his allegations.

“I said what I had to, but I did enjoy the honourable opposition leader,” the Finance Minister uttered while ending his statement with a hearty laugh.

Jordan told Kaieteur News that he has no time to enter into any debate with the Opposition Leader. He emphasized that Jagdeo cannot escape the fact that the investments were criminal and that NIS suffered as a result of it.

“I have no desire to give Jagdeo any more prominence than he gets in this honourable House,” Jordan concluded.

As for the Income Tax Bill which seeks to remove the tax levied directly on personal income, the Minister said that this is part of the quest by the coalition government to give a good life to the Guyanese people by “putting back money in their pockets so to speak.”

In explaining how this measure will work, Jordan said, “Let us assume that a person is working for $60,000 at the moment. They will be given a take home of $50,000 a month which leaves chargeable income of $10,000 a month. Now they are asked to pay 30 percent of that chargeable income which is $3000 plus, they will also be asked to pay $3360 a month in NIS contributions. So in essence their take-home pay will be $53,640. When this Bill is passed and the measure goes into effect, the chargeable income of $10,000 will have the NIS contribution deducted and that will leave $6640 and 30 percent of that is $1192, giving this person a take home pay of $54,648.

He said that this means that this person will have a saving or will have extra money in his pocket of $1008 a month or $12,096 a year. This earned him loud applause from members of the House.

He emphasised that this measure takes place this year.

The House then examined the Bill clause by clause and it was subsequently passed.

Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo thanked House Speaker, Dr. Barton Scotland for his calm demeanour during the “stormy” budget debate and deliberations.

Quoting Shakespeare, the First Vice President said, “You ‘sat like patience on a monument, smiling at grief.”

Nagamootoo also extended thanks to the staff of the Parliament and the media and finally moved the motion for the Parliament to enter a period of recess for one month.

The House is expected to meet on October 11.

 

http://www.kaieteurnewsonline....al-finance-minister/

Mitwah

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