Thousands of Barbadians march in protest against solid waste tax

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Thursday July 24, 2014, CMC - Thousands of Barbadians took to the streets on Thursday to protest against the imposition of the Municipal Solid Waste Tax.

The midday march, led by Mia Mottley – leader of the opposition Barbados Labour Party (BLP) ended outside the office of Prime Minister, Freundel Stuart, where she delivered a letter of protest on behalf of people across the island.

“Today is about sending a message to the government about this bad Solid Waste Tax that they need to repeal and rethink,” Mottley said before proceeding to Prime Minister Stuart’s office.

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“The people of Barbados have spoken across the length and breadth, that we’ve had 27 other taxes and fees imposed on us in the last six years. We can take no more.”

“This march is for the repeal of the Solid Waste Tax. This march is for a new government mechanism that allows us…as Bajans not to be surprised by a tax , not to be unfaired [sic] by a tax.

“But we say we know we are in trouble as a nation. Talk to your people Freundel, and let us work with you.

“And if you cannot talk to your people and let us work with you, do the decent thing and step one side.”

This new tax was announced last year with a sweeping .03 per cent charge on the site value of real estate property across the island, but there have been widespread complaints about the financial burden it places on residents.

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Thousands of Barbadians march in protest against solid waste tax

Barbadians must pay new solid waste tax or face stiff penalties

Parliament buildings, Bridgetown, Barbados (Credit: Caribbean360 / Bigstock)

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Monday July 7, 2014, CMC – Barbadians have been told to pay the Municipal Solid Waste Tax even though they have not yet received information from the Barbados Revenue Authority (BRA).

BRA director of Shared Services, Wayne Forde, said the first instalment of the tax is due by July 28.

He said that property owners who have structures with an improved value on their land, were required to pay the solid waste tax, which has been calculated at a rate of 0.3 per cent of the site value.

“The Municipal Solid Waste Tax Act 2014 does not make any provisions for exemptions from the payment of the tax. However, the Minister of Finance has the authority to remit or refund part or all of the tax on the grounds of undue hardship or for any other reason, as stated in Section 5 of the Act,” Forde said.

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Forde warned that failure to pay the tax by the specified dates would result in a penalty of five per cent of the tax demanded and unpaid. In addition, interest at the rate of one per cent for each month on the penalty and the unpaid tax at the prescribed time, will be charged.

The tax was introduced this year to assist with the management of solid waste, that is, all garbage generated from residential households, apartment buildings, commercial and business establishments, institutional facilities, construction and demolition activities, municipal services and treatment plant sites.

But former prime minister Owen Arthur, is mobilising members of his constituency to protest payment of the tax, claiming that they are unable to pay.

Arthur and the main opposition Barbados Labour Party (BLP) have complained that tax places another financial burden on Barbadians.

“The people who are going to want relief most from this tax are the people who don’t know about writing no minister, (they) don’t know about using the law to help themselves,” Arthur said, adding “I am going to organise my constituency office, and bring all of my key people in St Peter together. And I am going to identify all who are living in house and shed, all the pensioners”.

Forde said that any objection to the value of a property must be made in writing to the Revenue Commissioner.

“You are still required to pay the tax although you have lodged an objection. It is advisable to pay the first instalment, and if your objection is successful, the adjustment will be made in the second instalment,” he added.

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Barbadians must pay new solid waste tax or face stiff penalties

Wayne Cadogan: Barbadians must speak out against unfair taxes

Wayne Cadogan

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Thursday July 3, 2014 - The recently implemented Municipal Solid Waste Tax will be a burden on most Barbadians since it will largely affect a part of the population; the middle class.

It is true that when a government needs additional money to effectively run a country they tend to increase taxes, but this would be done across the board so that everybody would be taxed and not just a few. We all know that Barbados is not a manufacturing society and depends heavily on fragile tourism and sugar industries to earn foreign exchange.

Since all countries implement new taxes from time to time, society expects that at some time their taxes will increase, but it is the manner in which it is done. In most countries, the government would go to the public with a referendum or sensitize them regarding their intended plans to raise money through increasing or implementing a new tax. In Barbados’ case, the current government did neither of the two. The strategy used by the government is one of a dictatorial or strong arm method of imposing this new tax, which would have created a negative backlash if it was introduced in most other countries.

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In some countries the public would be openly voicing their opinion through picketing, petitions to the government or marching to show their disapproval, especially regarding the manner in which it was done. What has happened to democracy in Barbados in recent years? Barbadians need to stand up for their rights and stop grumbling for nine days and sweeping things under the carpet and speak out, demonstrate, picket, bombard the press and boycott when their rights are being infringed on.

If the government had come to the people and stated beforehand that they have to raise the taxes or implement a new tax, the public outcry or backlash would not be as great, since the majority of the public understands that from time to time that government would have to increase or raise new taxes. In this case, this tax is an unfair tax since Barbados does not have a Waste Treatment Plant and the general public already pays taxes for the collection of their garbage. Also, every occupied house has a well, a grease trap and in some cases a septic tank on its property which from time to time the occupant has to pay an independent contractor to draw off when it becomes over filled. I could understand if this tax was implemented for those on the South Coast directly connected to the sewerage system.

Since Barbados does not have a Solid waste plant in place and this was discussed and implemented in Parliament two years ago, why is it that the government is suddenly dropping this tax on the people? The government had plenty of time to sensitize the public regarding their plans to introduce this tax. Is it because the economy is so bad and that they are doing it as part of the reconstruction of the economy and to raise finances to help pay for its multitude of foreign debts that are either overdue or about to become due?

As this tax does not affect the entire society, I would like to know who is paying the taxes for those tenants who are living in government housing free of cost as well as the upscale government houses who use just as much or more garbage than the average household. What the government should have done was to introduce an across the board 0.1 % tax on every working individual salary so that everybody would be paying the tax. This would not have been too burdensome on the taxpayer and in cases where there are multiple workers in a household it means they would be paying more and it would balance back out evenly. If a person had to pay on a site value of $200.000.00 a 0.1 % tax, they would only have to pay $200.00 for the year by the number of people working in that household.

If it isn’t already, Barbados will become one of the most expensive places in the world to live because of its tax structure, which in turn will be a deterrent for returning nationals or others who might want to consider living here.

The Barbados government cannot continue to raise taxes as a quick fix every time they need to raise money to bail out the country for one reason or another. The government needs to find new ways of raising funds and one of the main ways especially if it wants to save a fragile tourism industry from going under is to have two or three casinos, which should have been done years ago. The government has to bite the bullet and seriously consider the casino option, since a small selected few already control a plethora of one-arm bandits from which the government receives no direct benefits other than from license fees. There are lots of other ways that the government can create jobs and in many cases save a lot of wasteful expenditure, however I will leave that to the technocrats and experts to figure out since they are the ones being paid huge salaries and fees to run the country ‘effectively’.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Wayne Cadogan. Wayne Cadogan is a social writer on issues that affect the masses, a retired Civil Servant and former national athlete.

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Wayne Cadogan: Barbadians must speak out against unfair taxes