What is the PNM's plan for the economy?

[dude2014]

Their plan - plain and simple: Pauperise all of us.

When oil goes up the amount Petrotrin pays for same will go up. So what the firetruck you think we will pay for any type of fuel? It will cost more and when oil goes down we will still be paying the old price or the increased price. Who pocket do you think that will go in?

Come on think before you post, but then again is de old talk forum - No sense, cents or good scent will prevail herein ............

Pause for a second ... The current regime has talked about removal of subsidies and moving fuel prices towards its market price. To me that means when the Oil price is high then fuel prices are high and when oil prices are low then fuel prices are low.

What you are saying is they are looking at price fixing. If they do price fix next year 2018 when the oil price is still low it would mean when the price goes up we will still be paying low prices.

Also they are not "pauperising" us. They are weaning us off subsidies which will make us more competitive on a global scale.

Never see someone so eager to pay more for something, i bet you cant wait to pay your property tax too.... sad day in a country when the politicians convince their supporters that they making things better by taking more and more from them.

Increasing fuel prices to what we supposed to be paying is different from "taking more and more".
I think we should be paying property tax but not in its current form. The valuation on rental is subjective and leaves the door open to corruption. The money should also not go to a consolidated government fund but instead there should be a frame work for the money to be spent in the local area.

You know you don't have to be in total opposition to everything the opposing party does, you can see the good and bad in things.

Sorry! Did not mean to get persons sliders, under pants, or jockey shorts in a knot. I have made my position known on the increase in gas price. A perusal of the Mid Year review presented in Parliament on 10/5/2017 is a note worthy read.

With regards the Property Tax, The Honourable Minister of Finance pronounced on this also in the Mid year Review. I agree that the Valuation on Rental is subjective. What is needed is the Valuation division to publish rental figures they have in their possession. I do not trust these guys. How many valuations have they done since the proclamation of the Property Tax in 2009 to present.

FUN FACT: EVEN IF EVERY ONE SUBMITTED THEIR VALUATION RETURN FORM BY THE DEADLINE OF 22/5/2017, ONLY 25 % WILL BE TREATED WITH ...........

[desifemlove]

http://oilprice.com/commodity-price-cha ... t&sym=CB*1

good news for dr. rowley.

[desifemlove]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-39921029

[Dizzy28]

http://oilprice.com/commodity-price-charts?1&page=chart&sym=CB*1

good news for dr. rowley.

Those prices are for Brent crude
Trinidad trades oil at the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) price which trading US$3 less than Brent
http://oilprice.com/commodity-price-cha ... t&sym=CL*1

[matr1x]

Funny, all the talk about weaning population off subsidies, all the while the riches pay very little, and all sorts of underground deals being made.


Isn't this what they do? Convince you they are saving you while slitting your throat

Well this is not technically true. The rich in this country do actually pay quite alot.
Consumption by the rich is higher and therefore the state benefits way more from the rich rather than the poor.
Earnings by the rich is also higher and therefore their income tax is higher (some do cheat just like some people in the lower classes but this is not an excuse to demonize the rich).

When the water, electricity and gas subsidies are completely removed this will rake in way more money from the rich vs the poor.
As these are items consumed in much higher quantities by the rich vs the lower classes.

It has been a known fact quite a while now that it is actually the rich that benefit more from the fuel subsidies than the poorer classes do.

Are you referring to the cousin of trickle down economics? Now I know for sure you insane

[The_Honourable]

AGAINST EXCESSIVE TAXATION

In 1977, Margaret Thatcher (not yet PM of Britain), speaking at the University of Zurich called for a “revolt against excessive taxation”. Excessive taxation had stagnated Britain in the 1970s. In 1979 when she became prime minister she reinvented the British economy by lowering taxes and privatising state enterprises. The effect was a renewal of the British economy at all levels. Forty years later the Labour party’s socialist leader Jeremy Corbyn wants to increase taxes and nationalise state enterprises. Mr Corbyn is an admirer of Karl Marx.

Taxation is an emotive issue. Countries have gone to war over customs duty (a form of taxation). Governments have fallen because of taxation. In recent weeks, we have had a robust debate in this country about the property tax. Such discussion is a sign of a healthy democracy.

Taxation is not new. In ancient India, the Arthashastra, written some 2,300 years ago, advised that taxation should not inhibit growth. The Arthashastra was way ahead of its time. Moving to Europe, in 1066 following his victory at the battle of Hastings, William the Conqueror imposed the first property tax on the people of England. He commissioned valuators to go across England to record property that included cows and pigs. The record was compiled in what is known as the Domesday Book. This is the origin of property tax. It became part of the English tax system and was taken to the United States and throughout the British Empire.

In the Gospel of Saint Mathew Chapter 22, the Pharisees ask Jesus whether it is lawful to pay taxes to the Emperor. Jesus’ famous answer was, “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s.” The quote is seen by Biblical scholars as speaking to the relationship between religion and government or the separation of church and state.

In 1773, another tax related issue would be the spark that led to the American revolution. The Tea Act of 1773 mandated that American colonists buy their tea from the East India Company. Prior to that the taxes on most imports had been removed with the exception of tea. The tax on tea and the imposed monopoly of the East India company was the tipping point for the colonists who argued that there could be “no taxation without representation” and protested by dumping a shipment of tea in the Boston Harbour.

From the Arthashastra to the New Testament to the American Revolution, tax is controversial and emotive. Is T&T in the throes of excessive taxation? In the last 21 months, we have had the turning of the tax screws by taxman extraordinaire, Colm Imbert. He has tripled business levy, tripled green fund levy, put a controversial seven per cent tax on online shopping, increased taxes on people earning over one million per year, applied VAT to thousands of items that were hitherto zero rated, increase customs and excise duties on alcohol and tobacco, increased the customs duties and taxes on luxury vehicles by 50 per cent. The list may not be exhaustive. The tax on online shopping has been challenged in court and the property tax is headed there too. Let the courts decide if these are just taxes.

Taxation is primarily for financing public expenditures. They are also used to promote other objectives, such as equity, and to address social and economic concerns, to stimulate investment and innovation. Taxes affect economic behaviour such as levels of savings, supply of labour, the decisions of firms to produce, job creation, investment and innovation. A tax regime should reward production and penalise consumption not the other way around.

I am ideologically against excessive taxation. I am all for the State collecting what is due to them and charging for what is fair to finance the operations of the country. I am all for the State going after tax evaders. I am all for a well-resourced and efficient Board of Inland Revenue. I am against a system of taxation that drowns the entrepreneurial spirit. I am against a system of taxation that discourages investment. I believe that the current Minister of Finance is dangerously tipping the tax regime in that direction. The case of taxation in Ireland is instructive.

In my years at the Ministry of Energy, we never increased taxation on the energy sector. I stand by that decision. It is a decision that was strategic and one for which I was criticised by the current Government. We simplified the petroleum taxation regime, simplified the production sharing contracts, reduced the tax rate and gave incentives in the form of accelerated capital allowances. The country will greatly benefit from these decisions in 2017. In a few weeks, we will see the fruit of these interventions in the form of new gas production and new discoveries of natural gas.

An enlightened taxation system can stimulate growth and investment. A well-designed system of tax incentives can be the catalyst for economic diversification. Excessive and burdensome taxation will achieve the opposite. The latter sets in motion a vicious cycle with does not promote economic growth.

Kevin Ramnarine is a former minister of Energy of Trinidad and Tobago

Source: http://www.guardian.co.tt/columnist/201 ... e-taxation

[drchaos]

Sell Petrotin and CAL and the savings every year would probably more than make up for the money they hope to gain from this property tax.

[Gladiator]

Sell Petrotin and CAL and the savings every year would probably more than make up for the money they hope to gain from this property tax.

Finally you talking some sense...

[drchaos]

Sell Petrotin and CAL and the savings every year would probably more than make up for the money they hope to gain from this property tax.

Finally you talking some sense...

Like you did'nt read anything I say before

[sMASH]

everybody tightening their belts by choice or by force, except the government

[RedVEVO]

Sell Petrotin and CAL and the savings every year would probably more than make up for the money they hope to gain from this property tax.

Finally you talking some sense...

Like you did'nt read anything I say before

You come to Trinituner to learn Grenadian ?
I understand there are no schools in Grenada.
The company is Petrotrin - Ok ?

Sell BWIA . I agree 100%
Sell Petrotrin like yesterday !

[rspann]

Satan correcting sin. The company is CAL- ok?

[drchaos]

Typo is one ting but mixing up an entire functioning company for another that has been closed a decade and some change ago ... No words ....

[The_Honourable]

Camille: Sandals plan still on

There’s still a resort prospect for Tobago—focusing on medical and retiree community tourism—if Sandals Jamaica does really sell out and cannot do Government’s proposed Tobago Sandals plan.

That’s the assurance from Carlton Reis, managing director of Dalco, the largest shareholder in CL FInancial. Reis is the representative of CLF Majority shareholder Lawrence Duprey.

Reis gave the assurance—and detailed CLF’s alternative resort plan immediately following a Reuters report that Sandals Resorts International is exploring “strategic alternatives including potential sale of the company and had hired Deutsche Bank to explore several options, including a sale of a majority stake in the company.

Sandals, which subseqently didn’t confirm or deny the Reuters report, instead stated it’s “exploring options to accelerate the company’s long-term growth and development plans. This is not new. Meanwhile, it’s business as usual.”

Yesterday, Planning Minister Camille Robinson- Regis, when asked if in view of the reports—Government’s Sandals plan was still on, said she hadn’t heard otherwise. OPM Minister, Stuart Young, who is overseas, wasn’t available regarding what implications the reports about Sandals could have for Government’s plan.

Government has been pursuing development of a Tobago Sandals to have the “brand name” locally. The land Sandals wants for the project is part of the Golden Grove estate at Buccoo owned by Clico subsidiaries. Last valuation was (US)$37 million, CLF shareholders said.

CLF shareholders, who’d been pursuing their own tourism plan for the land prior to Government’s initiative, assured they’d shelved it and were supportive of Government’s Sandals projects. They projected Government’s acquisition of the land might assist in eliminating the debt owed by CLF to Government on the 2009 Clico bailout.

Reis said while CLF shareholders are disputing Finance Minister Colm Imbert’s claim the Clico debt from Government’s 2009 bailout of the company is $27.7 billion the group still supports Government’s bid to boost Tobago tourism.

Reis said, “The last contact with Government on the Clico issue was meeting Central Bank in June 2015 and Government around then. We don’t know where Mr Imbert got this $27.7 billion figure from. The last figure we were told was $19.6 billion including Methanol Holding proceeds,” Reis said.

“But we’re still willing to work with Government to facilitate land for a tourism project for Tobago if the Sandals plan falls through. We can re-initiate our previous talks with our foreign investors to develop a medical tourism and retiree haven on our same Buccoo land in Tobago.”

Reis said CLF shareholders, including Duprey, had been speaking to European and Canadian pension plan holders to launch a resort on the Buccoo land, but this was shelved after Government’s Sandals plan was introduced.

“We can present this as an alternative to Government if Sandals doesn’t work out. We’d planned a facility centered around medical tourism—surgery, specialist medical services—and a retiree village catering for foreign and local retirees including Trinis who want to return home from overseas and don’t want Trinidad’s fast-paced environment.”

“Representatives visited Tobago in previous years and saw it as a perfect ‘paradise’ location due to low crime, geographic and other factors. Even now crime in Tobago is relatively lower than Panama and other Caribbean places.”

“This initiative will also create more jobs than a normal hotel resort, since it focuses on medical tourism as well as retirees. There’ll be jobs for doctors, nurses, specialist medical practitioners. Also, T&T has an ageing population —this caters to that need.

Source: http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/2017-05- ... plan-still

[Ben_spanna]

First sit down the entire government, teach them the definition of the word "PLAN" and then they can try to figure out the location of their rectum and their elbows

[matr1x]

How do tobagonians feel about sandals?

[Monkey Man]

How do tobagonians feel about sandals?

im sure they barefoot cuz they cant afford any

[16 cycles]

Camille: Sandals plan still on


“This initiative will also create more jobs than a normal hotel resort, since it focuses on medical tourism as well as retirees. There’ll be jobs for doctors, nurses, specialist medical practitioners. Also, T&T has an ageing population —this caters to that need.

thought there was a shortage that's preventing the opening of the couva hospital??

[The_Honourable]

Trinidad Looks Downstream To Revive Aluminium Project

The Trinidad & Tobago government, led by Dr Keith Rowley, says it is "actively pursuing" a key aspect of the original aluminium smelter plant project that was shut down by the former administration seven years ago.

Finance Minister Colm Imbert told legislators that the Rowley administration would be reviving the plan but this time, instead of a smelter, the proposed Alutech plant would be used to produce "high-quality aluminium downstream products, including pressed aluminium coils, billets and wheel rims".

He told legislators on Tuesday that the proposed smelter would have initially produced the hot metal for the downstream aluminium products. But now, the plan is to import ingots for the products to be manufactured.

"The Alutech plant will be the first of its kind in the Caribbean and will provide the opportunity to further diversify the Trinidad & Tobago economy," Imbert said, adding that the new company will also play "a key role in generating revenue, earning foreign exchange and creating employment".

In 2010, the then People's Partnership government led by Kamla Persad-Bissessar pulled the plug on the controversial Alutrint smelter project, saying it had no intention of continuing with the construction of the multimillion-dollar plant that had been started under the Patrick Manning administration.

People's Partnership, originally, an amalgam of five opposition parties and trade unions, had supported calls by environmental groups for the project to be scrapped.

Last December, Rowley told legislators that despite the shutdown, "there still remains opportunities for an aluminium downstream industry" to be developed in Trinidad.

At Tuesday's parliamentary session, Imbert was dismissive of a question raised by leader of the opposition business, Wade Mark, on how the new venture would survive, given that Trinidad recently announced a severe shortage of natural gas.

"The fact of the matter is, these are activities that are products produced by electricity; they are not produced by gas," the finance minister said. "In the case of the smelter, natural gas was a key component of the process. In the case of these products, electricity is the main source of energy," he added.

- CMC

Source: http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/busi ... um-project

[matr1x]

Thank you my Rowley! !!

Killer of our environment and local population. I hope you proud, you polished turd.

[Dizzy28]

Alutechs facility was substantially complete at Tamana Intech Park in 2010.

[sMASH]

NO FRACKIN SMELTER!!!!!!!!!!!

[eliteauto]

Camille: Sandals plan still on


“This initiative will also create more jobs than a normal hotel resort, since it focuses on medical tourism as well as retirees. There’ll be jobs for doctors, nurses, specialist medical practitioners. Also, T&T has an ageing population —this caters to that need.

thought there was a shortage that's preventing the opening of the couva hospital??

Private enterprise isn't State, isn't that why the Gov't is exploring the possibility of a Private-Public-Partnership for the Couva Hospital?

IMO the CLF option would redound to greater benefit of Tobago and Tobagonians that the Sandals project.

[RedVEVO]

Satan correcting sin. The company is CAL- ok?

There is no Cal .. always BWIA and always will be .. Losing $$$ every minute .

Sell BWIA today .. A grease monkey with lipstick is still a grease monkey.

[RedVEVO]

Camille: Sandals plan still on


“This initiative will also create more jobs than a normal hotel resort, since it focuses on medical tourism as well as retirees. There’ll be jobs for doctors, nurses, specialist medical practitioners. Also, T&T has an ageing population —this caters to that need.

thought there was a shortage that's preventing the opening of the couva hospital??

Private enterprise isn't State, isn't that why the Gov't is exploring the possibility of a Private-Public-Partnership for the Couva Hospital?

IMO the CLF option would redound to greater benefit of Tobago and Tobagonians that the Sandals project.

These Private-Public Partnerships do not work - in Trinidad

There is always inference by the Gov't.

If Couva Hospital is private . Children will benefit .

Just let Gov't pay the insurance bill for the free services .

[Dizzy28]

NO FRACKIN SMELTER!!!!!!!!!!!

Alutech is not a smelter AFAIK. It was meant to utilize Aluminum from the smelter at Alutrint to manufacture high value products e.g. rims, wires etc. Hence the reason it was built at Tamana and not on one of those other industrial estates.

Aluminum can still be imported for use in any such facility.

[Monkey Man]

i think a litter of puppies will run the country better yes....

[88sins]

These Private-Public Partnerships do not work - in Trinidad

There is always inference by the Gov't.

If Couva Hospital is private . Children will benefit .

Just let Gov't pay the insurance bill for the free services .

so who you getting to build a new private hospital in Couva? or you want the state to rent the hospital to a private companies & citizens pay an arm & a leg & a liver through the nose for medical care?I wonder if you got any idea about the cost of drugs or theater time in a private hospital, or even the cost of a semi private room/day. If that ever happens, the only ppl that'll benefit would be the doctors/shareholders that leased the hospital & politicians. nobody else.

& if the state pays for the insurance for the services, you feel that go be any better? Keep in mind, that insurance companies HATE to pay out on claims, & look for all sorts of means to justify what they don't feel to pay. So when they refuse to settle a claim, or pay short, it's the taxpayer patient who's gonna be liable for the balance, the same taxpayer patient whose tax dollars went into building that hospital he cant afford to go to, who's being conned by the insurance he's paying for via taxes.

Still feel its a good idea?

[88sins]

i think a litter of puppies will run the country better yes....

tru dat. they'd be more honest, more willing to work, care about ppl, less prone to large scale mismanagement of public assets, & look better than what we got right now.

[RedVEVO]

These Private-Public Partnerships do not work - in Trinidad

There is always inference by the Gov't.

If Couva Hospital is private . Children will benefit .

Just let Gov't pay the insurance bill for the free services .

so who you getting to build a new private hospital in Couva? or you want the state to rent the hospital to a private companies & citizens pay an arm & a leg & a liver through the nose for medical care?I wonder if you got any idea about the cost of drugs or theater time in a private hospital, or even the cost of a semi private room/day. If that ever happens, the only ppl that'll benefit would be the doctors/shareholders that leased the hospital & politicians. nobody else.

& if the state pays for the insurance for the services, you feel that go be any better? Keep in mind, that insurance companies HATE to pay out on claims, & look for all sorts of means to justify what they don't feel to pay. So when they refuse to settle a claim, or pay short, it's the taxpayer patient who's gonna be liable for the balance, the same taxpayer patient whose tax dollars went into building that hospital he cant afford to go to, who's being conned by the insurance he's paying for via taxes.

Still feel its a good idea?

The Couva Hospital build already .

Make it private - Give it to a foreigner - Rent it - Lease it

Open it - Doctors will come - Nurses will come - Protest for it

Trinidad Gov't can pay the cost of services

It is for the TT Children . Well T only .