The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

QUESTIONS are being raised over the adequacy of the government’s Value Added Tax (VAT) awareness program after several Family Island administrators yesterday indicated that public forums have not taken place on their island and that the awareness initiatives that have taken place in some districts have been inadequate in some way.

Noting that residents are “thirsty” for knowledge about VAT, the administrators of islands where town hall meetings have yet to take place said they do not know exactly when leading Finance Ministry officials will visit their islands and address residents.

Their revelations come despite the fact that VAT is expected to be implemented in fewer than five months.

Yesterday, a press statement from the government noted that Minister of State for Finance, Michael Halkitis, will participate in a South Eleuthera Town Hall meeting on Saturday.

Mr Halkitis previously said the government has visited Grand Bahama, Abaco and Andros.
Nonetheless, Stephanie Rahming, Family Island Administrator for South Andros, said the lone forum in her district occurred during the daytime on a weekday.

After the forum ended, she said she advised Ministry of Finance officials to return to the district and host another forum to accommodate people who could not attend the event. She said she has not been given any indication that another town hall meeting will be held.

“In evaluating all the concerns expressed at the meeting, it was noted that persons do not wish for VAT to be implemented at the time that the government is hoping to implement it,” she said.

“I do know being island administrator for South Andros that I advised organisers that they need to come back because a number of persons couldn’t come out and hear them or express their concerns at the first meeting.”

Gregory Knowles, Family Island Administrator for Mangrove Cay, Andros, added that no forum has been held in his district of Andros.

He said he doesn’t know when a meeting will be held.

He added: “We had an impromptu meeting involving John Rolle. We had about thirty people attend. What happened is the high school had a career day and the Financial Secretary gave some information on VAT for a few hours.

“We had a little session with the people. A scheduled meeting should be arranged sometime in the future for experts to come down and spend more time, since the first was not a scheduled meeting.

“There are a lot of questions that need to be asked and more information to be gained so persons could have a clear understanding of what VAT is all about.

“I don’t think that the small guy understands clearly what VAT entails and what is expected of him.”

He added: “Most certainly people are thirsty for knowledge about VAT. They want to know what is going to be required of them, how it will benefit them and what they need to understand.”

As for why Mangrove Key was seemingly ignored when officials last hosted a town hall meeting in Andros, he said: “The problem is that they get Mangrove key and South Andros mixed up. They haven’t realized that the two are two different districts. When they go to South Andros, people normally think that’s including Mangrove Key, but that is not.

“Water separates the two and you have to come here separately.”

Jackson Mckintosh, Family Island administrator for Cat Island, said: “There has been no form of gathering for VAT so far, no public discussion. The government has prepared a booklet on the VAT legislation and gave it to administrative office but we’ve had no public discourse.”

Mr Mckintosh added that the “60 or so distributed” VAT booklets were mainly given to people in the business community.

“I can’t say every member of the public has one,” he said, adding: “A lot of persons are skeptical and afraid VAT would unduly increase the course of living. A lot of people also think the government would be in a better position to satisfy needs if they implement VAT.

“But overall there is a lot skepticism and fear so once knowledge comes, skepticism may die. We all are thirsty for more knowledge.”

Neil Campbell, Family Island Administrator for Central Abaco, also said “people are thirsty for knowledge about VAT”.

“As you sit down in doctors or dentists office or anywhere people are talking about it,” he said, adding that he thinks the government’s efforts in Central Abaco to educate residents about VAT has been adequate.