FORMER Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis. (File photo)
By LEANDRA ROLLE
Tribune Staff reporter
lrolle@tribunemedia.net
FORMER Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis yesterday suggested that the government increase taxes on wealthy property buyers and eliminate value added tax on breadbasket items to alleviate the burden on struggling Bahamians.
Dr Minnis made the suggestion as he called for the Davis administration to place greater focus on how it can better assist the Bahamian people rather than attacking the work done under his administration.
His comments come amid soaring inflation in the country.
Since assuming office last year, the Davis administration has been critical of the former government’s performance, often attacking its response to Hurricane Dorian and the COVID-19 pandemic.
A number of investigations have also been launched recently into government agencies, including the Water and Sewerage Corporation.
While some members of Parliament have accused the government of targeting certain FNM MPs, Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis has dismissed claims that his administration is on a political witch hunt.
Yesterday, Dr Minnis was asked about his thoughts on the investigations related to WSC.
However, the Killarney MP said while he did not know many details surrounding matters related to the corporation, it appeared to him that the Davis administration “have been looking to find faults” with the FNM party.
“Davis and his government recognised, they have checked and they recognise that my government had done an excellent job under the circumstances. You must remember that when we came in we were hit with (Hurricane) Irma,” Dr Minnis reminded reporters outside of the House of Assembly yesterday.
“Our southern shores were threatened. We did something that was never done in the history of the Bahamas and even when we said that we wanted to do it, many said it was impossible. We air evacuated individuals from the southern islands and no lives were lost.
“We ensured their safety. Then immediately after that we were struck with (Hurricane) Dorian. In spite of that, our economy was growing and then after Dorian came COVID and we managed all three of those disasters efficiently.
“Davis and those have been looking to find faults here and there and they are basically grabbing at straws and now we’re faced with inflation. Rather than them trying to denigrate or degrade or hit the FNM in any manner that they see fit, they should be concentrating on what the people are experiencing now, the high cost of living.
“The high cost of food, the high cost of gas, the high cost of unemployment. Individuals can’t pay their rent. They can’t pay their mortgages. They’re having great difficulty meeting these costs and Davis and those should be concentrating on how they’re going to assist to alleviate the problems that individuals are feeling and experiencing now because if they’re not prepared, then the Bahamas will be in for a difficult time over the next year or two.”
Asked about his recommendations to tackle rising inflation, Dr Minnis replied: “I’m not here to solve their problem,” adding that his administration already had plans in place to deal with rising prices because they had predicted it.
“Inflation is not new to the world. So, one has to review history and make your adjustments and make your plans and properly communicate to the people exactly what they’re experiencing and what you’re doing,” Dr Minnis added.
“They have essentially increased tax on breadbasket items but what they did is they decreased tax for the rich in that once you’re buying property for $2m or more, rather than paying 12 percent you now pay ten percent. So, what they could do if they’re looking for money is that they could put that back to twelve and the extra monies that they would get from that one factor they can use that to alleviate the breadbasket items. So, they’re always asking where they can get money from, but they have a list of areas that they can obtain money from, it’s just a matter of them doing their own work.”
Gas prices are currently at well over $6 a gallon at fuel stations in New Providence, with fears the number could continue to rise this summer.
There has also been a spike in costs for some food items in grocery stores.
However, officials have said there is little that can be done to offset rising prices due to inflation among other factors.
Comments
KapunkleUp 1 year, 11 months ago
Amazing. He had 5 years to try out his brilliant ideas and we did we get? How about enforcing current tax laws before adding new ones.
Cobalt 1 year, 11 months ago
Agreed.
JokeyJack 1 year, 11 months ago
Agreed
tribanon 1 year, 11 months ago
LMAO. That certainly would not take much effort on the part of the Davis administration.
Surely the very wealthy Minnis meant to say "all food items", but then again as a member of the privileged class he may not be doing his own grocery shopping.
Why doesn't the tyrannical Minnis just ride off into the sunset....even the voters in Killarney who voted for him in the last general election are now wishing he would do so.
dajohhnycanoe 1 year, 11 months ago
The people are struggling cause the "FORMER" PM messed it up..So best to keep quite now OLD PM
gumbolimbo 1 year, 11 months ago
Whenever there is a shortage of money in the government of the Bahamas, the first thing the government says is, " I know the answer to the problem, let's increase taxes on the wealthy property owners for whatever we can get and that will solve all our problems."
All elected officials and their counterparts need to actually sit down, crunch the numbers, and come up with a long term solution. If you keep taxing the very group of people that continue to invest and put monies into the economy, they will soon disappear and you will still have the same problem(s).
ohdrap4 1 year, 11 months ago
AU CONTRAIRE
Whenever there is a shortage of money in the government of the Bahamas, the first thing the government says is, " I know the answer to the problem, let's increase taxes on the WORKING POOR.
Our tax system is regressive.
When PGC was PM they talked of "PAYROLL TAX" to be collected by NIB. Remember, the wealthy are not on payroll. Also the rich lawyers and doctors in the house of parliament are also not on payroll.
tribanon 1 year, 11 months ago
Bingo!
Cobalt 1 year, 11 months ago
First of all, I have to wonder who actually advises Dr. Minnis. I ask this question because he seems totally detached from reality. Secondly, Dr. Minnis has absolutely no credibility left. He abandoned his post 8 months early only to emerge in the HOA and make recommendations as it relates to taxes????? The immediate and obvious question is why didn’t he do it when he was in office??? Every time Hubert Minnis opens his mouth the PLP gets another vote.
tribanon 1 year, 11 months ago
Bingo x 10!
TalRussell 1 year, 11 months ago
Balls Alley pollsters: ... The red party's leadership ... picky when comes who call the policemans' in on. ... The left behind struggling PopoulacesOfCommeners. said to be early lining up in advance reserve front row court seats to observe any trials resulting from ongoing policemans' investigations. ― Yes?
John 1 year, 11 months ago
The fact is there is NO shortage of revenue available to the government and no shortage of revenue GOING to the government. The fact is there is gross mismanagement and misappropriation of government revenue. And fact is everyone appears to be getting away with it. The scam is to tax tge drawers off Bahamians. Make life miserable. Reduce the standard of living and increase the cost of living vis a vis increased taxation. Then everyone becomes poverty stricken and must rely on the state for survival. Welcome to Cuba, Bahamas!
hj 1 year, 11 months ago
Dr.Lockdown seems to be so desperate to become again leader that he would say anything without realizing how much damage he keeps doing to his party . Either that or he doesn't care. In any case if he believes he will be back in power he is out of touch with reality. I suppose we will hear from him sometime next week again.
The_Oracle 1 year, 11 months ago
Taxing peter to pay (or give something to) Paul never works. Perhaps the value in this article is the demonstration of his lack of vision or logic? He was after all the engineer of the shutdown of our economy. If one is going to throw the switch for a shut down, one better be able to restart it! Tax the rich excessively and you end up without the rich, leaving you with more poverty.
tribanon 1 year, 11 months ago
The heartless looney decisions of this tyrannical megalomaniac in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian and then again during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, resulted in the unnecessary loss of many hundreds if not thousands of lives. Minnis should be ashamed to continue referring to himself as a medical doctor and the Bahamas Medical Association should have long ago stripped him of his license to practice medicine.
TalRussell 1 year, 11 months ago
Unfortunately, Thee Doctor Minnis is not a kind medical practitioner ...Those souls struggling against brungin' on full instantaneous erection of kind *can continue hours beyond encountering anything red would wanna book office appointments with ... Made surrender office décor wall art vaginas. ― Yes?
tribanon 1 year, 11 months ago
Minnis was dumb, arrogant and incompetent to the extreme. Davis on the other hand is just plain outright corrupt and downright cruel to his very core. But we all know that you, like @birdie, have Davis's back no matter what. LOL
temptedbythefruitofanother 1 year, 11 months ago
Brilliant logic, chase away the "wealthy landowners" who can go to Caymans, T&C, Monaco, Greece, Italy, etc etc and pay about 1/10th the amount of property tax than the Bahamas and then don't make any reasonable attempt to collect outstanding taxes on whoever is left. Genius plan
JokeyJack 1 year, 11 months ago
They are not smart enough to realize that. Besides, they don't care about having rich people in the country to bring the average level up - they want us all to be EQUAL - even if that mean being equal beggars. In fact, they love equal beggars - easy to "pursuade" to vote a certain way.
Sickened 1 year, 11 months ago
I looking for a fresh t-shirt now. When's the next election?
JokeyJack 1 year, 11 months ago
Why should we show so much care and concern for the "poor" - so-called poor ????????? Let them start showing some concern for themselves and buy some condoms or get the operation or whatever.
Talk about unfair? It's not fair for me to pay higher taxes because some bozos want to have 5 or 6 children.
The migrants who live here with more rights than Bahamians (free land for example) - don't want to pay no taxes to the Treasury. They want to send all their extra money back home to help buy wood and diesel to make boats. The only tax they pay is on fuel for generator and now they complaining they gotta pay VAT on rice and turkey-fly. Why should we let them live here tax free with free land, free clinics, free schools, while we work ourselves to death to pay rent to the landlord?
VAT should remain on ALL items and next year if the economy has recovered, then it should go back up to 12%.
Bahamians don't care anyway - they don't even want to know where their VAT money goes. This question has been asked since Sweeting ran for East End - and ain't no answer yet. We don't even have election results by polling division yet - and somehow the Pan American whatever they called issued a glowing report about our "democratic" process.
We got more problems in this country than conch.
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