Richards Tackles Property Tax

By Ria Taitt, The Trinidad and Tobago Express

January 14, 2010

Trinidad and Tabago

Photo: Jermaine Cruickshank

Opposition Leader Basdeo Panday, left, shares a light moment with President George Maxwell Richards after yesterday's ceremonial opening of Parliament at the Red House in Port of Spain. Looking on are Dr Jean Ramjohn Richards, wife of the President, Oropouche East MP Dr Roodal Moonilal, right, and former minister Overand Padmore. 

President George Maxwell Richards yesterday took up the hottest political issue in the land-the controversial property tax-stating that many feared it would bring ’undue hardship’ and urging Parliament to have ’promised’ amendments to this legislation ready for his assent. 

Government, which had an extremely difficult time getting this legislation passed amidst opposition from unions, opposing political parties and even its own benches in the Parliament, could not have been pleased at yesterday’s ceremonial opening of Parliament to hear the President say: ’It is clear ... that there remain serious gaps in the understanding of precisely what impact the new land tax legislation will have. For many individuals, this gap engenders the fear that the new legislation will be the source of undue hardship.’ 

However, Opposition members Roodal Moonilal and Kamla Persad-Bissessar were nodding vigorously as Richards delivered his address. 

During his speech, Richards veered into deep political waters, calling on the political authorities to address the concerns of the people, with special reference to the plight of retired public servants and retired members of the judiciary. 

'Unless pensions are adjusted, there will continue to be an automatic fall in standard of living as prices increase,’ the President said. 

'I believe the time has arrived when urgent consideration should be given to reviewing the pension arrangements for public servants. It is no exaggeration to state that many retired public servants live in penury. Under the present arrangements, these pension provisions remain fixed and unaltered for the duration of the retirees’ lives. 

'It should be easy to understand that, with the passage of time, the rapid increases in the price of shelter, food and other commodities, the cost of living, on the whole, has eroded and will continue to erode the capability of such pensions to sustain the retired public servants and his or her dependants, if any, at any reasonable standard of living.’ 

Listening to the President were members of both Houses of Parliament, members of the judiciary, including Chief Justice Ivor Archie and CCJ President Michael de la Bastide, members of the diplomatic corps and other specially invited guests. 

Stating that this applied to former ambassadors, high commissioners, senior public servants as well as lower level personnel, Richards said retirees from the judicial service faced similar problems. 

'Let us not delude ourselves, pensioners and other persons on fixed incomes are fully exposed to price inflation, ever as many of them continue to service mortgages on their homes, some of which may have been used as collateral to finance their children’s education,’ Richards added. 

The Government has been boasting about the rising tertiary education rate. But the President noted yesterday that while the student numbers had been growing rapidly, only 10 per cent of the working population had tertiary education. He attributed blame to some teachers who ’having no vocation’, ...’treat the school as a place where they sign in and out’, as well as to the lack of proper values being inculcated in the home where ’the value of education is not emphasised’. 

Richards pointed out that this country invested approximately 1 per cent of its GDP in higher education. While this represented a substantial increase within recent years, it was behind the performance of countries such as Australia, Canada and the US, he opined. He also urged greater investment by ’private finance’ in university funding, noting that this country was also behind developed nations in this regard. 

The President also made general plea for greater understanding, saying ’within recent times, there has been clear evidence of the distress that can be caused when misunderstandings arise within the country, especially in the matter of governance’. 

'It became increasingly evident that serious gaps exist between good intention and the management of communication of such intention,’ Richards said. 

He added: ’In the final analysis, perception always remains important in relations among human beings and we have a duty to be mindful of this fact. 

Dialogue that sincerely permits another point of view and patience are necessary ingredients for the successful encounters where views diverge... We need to listen to one another as we build the country together inside and outside of Parliament, seeking always to achieve balance in our relations.’ 

Richards said the country has fallen behind in the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) since 2002/3, when it was 42nd world wide. It now falls into the Stage 3 of economic development with a ranking of 86th out of 133 countries globally. He urged that ’top priority’ be given to infrastructure development - water, transportation, roads, telecommunications, waste disposal, irrigation systems and environmental protection. 

'While we are not altogether where we used to be, we are not where we ought to be in the above-mentioned areas,’ he said. 

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