[Trinidad and Tobago] House Hears of prosperity and Poverty

From The Trinidad and Tobago Express

Richard Lord

Trinidad and Tobago is experiencing economic prosperity because of good fiscal management, Minister in the Ministry of Finance Conrad Enill has said.

He was presenting the Finance Bill, 2006 for debate in the House of Representatives during its first sitting since the Christmas break last year.

The Bill seeks to amend several pieces of financial legislation, including the Income Tax Act, the Corporation Tax Act, the Unemployment Levy Act, the Petroleum Taxes Act, the Fiscal Incentives Act and the Tourism Development Act.

Enill said the unemployment rate was below eight per cent and the country's foreign reserves were enough for seven months cover.

However, UNC Political Leader and MP for St Augustine Winston Dookeran, who spoke after Enill, said many of the provisions outlined in the Bill were really aimed at providing greater (tax) compliance penalties and systems.

He described as "more optics and illusions" the provisions outlined under the various tax regimes.

"There is a high content of optics in this presentation, optics in order to convey to the population a sense of prosperity when in truth there will be no such prosperity."

Dookeran said that had created an illusion that the country's population was facing "as they combat the real problems of rising prices and falling real incomes, as they combat the problem of rising cost of living and lowering of standards of living, as they combat the problem of dealing with an uncertain future and a sense of fear as to when we will get to the edge".

He added that the measures were aimed at the short term objective of revenue collection, "much less than the longer term objectives of increasing our reserves and our exploration activity".

Meanwhile, former energy minister Eric Williams, now facing corruption charges, took a new seat yesterday.

He was on the back bench next to former works and transport minister Franklin Khan who is also charged with corruption.