By DENISE MAYCOCK
Tribune Freeport Reporter
dmaycock@tribunemedia.net
GRAND Bahama pastor and community activist Eddie Victor says Value Added Tax (VAT) will cause more poverty in the Bahamas and will greatly affect the “working poor” segment.
With the cost of living already high on the island, Pastor Victor believes that additional taxes will put further financial strain on working Bahamians. “People’s expenses will go up, but their income is not going up. And when you talk to people they are saying their income cannot meet their basic expenses,” he said this week.
Pastor Victor, Convener of the Coalition of Concerned Citizens, has been agitating against Grand Bahama Power Company and the high cost of the electricity in Grand Bahama. With VAT, he said, consumers will have to pay more for electricity and he claims that the Power Company is concerned with profits and has not lowered the fuel surcharge, even though global oil prices have been falling.
“They say they purchase fuel in bulk about two to three months in advance, but if you look at December and October and what the price of oil was in July, the surcharge still went up,” he said. Even though oil prices are at a five-year low and the Power Company has boasted of more fuel efficiency with the new power plant, Pastor Victor said consumers are still burdened with high electricity costs.
“They knew that they would achieve greater efficiency from the plant so they got the Port to put the fixed rate structure up. So whatever you would have saved in fuel surcharge, you end up paying for it in the fixed rate,” he claimed.
Mr Victor also believes that the Power Company needs to do more in terms of alternative energy solutions.
Comments
TheMadHatter 9 years, 2 months ago
Maybe we need to figure out why there are so many poor people in the first place - not just how to accomodate them.
I mean, if I keep finding tacks in my driveway - I'm not only going to consider buying steel belted radial tires to help reduce flat tires, I'm also going to start to wonder - "Where are all these tacks coming from?"
TheMadHatter
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