The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Government was yesterday accused of “putting the cart before the horse” on National Health Insurance (NHI) by telling the Bahamian people they would be taxed without knowing the total cost imposed on them.

Branville McCartney, the Democratic National Alliance’s (DNA) leader, questioned whether the Government could be trusted with the extra funds an NHI scheme would suck up, given that it had been “touting” the initiative since 2002 but still had to reveal the total cost.

And he slammed Prime Minister Perry Christie’s praise of Value-Added Tax (VAT) as a ‘success story’ in the mid-year Budget, asking: “Is it a success to tax the hell out of the Bahamian people?”

Responding to Dr Perry Gomez’s Monday address on NHI to the House of Assembly, Mr McCartney told Tribune Business: “That’s another tax they’re going to put on the backs of the Bahamian people.

“They are saying they’re going to put the tax on the backs of the Bahamian people, but can’t tell us how much it is going to cost us. They can’t say at the end of the day that this is what it’s going to cost, this is how it is going to operate.

“This is the same government that’s been touting NHI from 2002, and to-date they can’t tell you how much it’s going to cost the Bahamian people, but they can say they’re going to tax you and you’re going to have to pay more.”

Mr McCartney questioned what Bahamians would be paying for with NHI, should the Government proceed with plans to implement it by January 1, 2016 - even though Bahamian employers and workers still do not know how much they will be paying to finance it.

Asking whether the Government could be trusted with even more taxpayer dollars so soon after generating an extra $300-$350 million in net revenues through Value-Added Tax (VAT), Mr McCartney said the Minister’s taxation warning was akin to “putting the cart before the horse”.

“Where are they going to get the money from to set this up?” Mr McCartney asked. “We cannot sustain it. We are having difficulty now.”

Expressing concern that the Bahamian economy and consumers would find NHI’s extra costs unbearable so soon after VAT, the DNA leader turned his attention to the Prime Minister’s recent praise of the latter tax.

“Is it a success story that we are taxing the hell out of the Bahamian people?” Mr McCartney asked Tribune Business. “It is a success because people can’t pay their mortgages and businesses can’t keep their doors open?

“Is that the success story the Prime Minister is talking about, and now he’s talking about more taxes? The Prime Minister has the audacity to say that taxing the Bahamian people is a success story? My God.”