KAMLA: RECONSIDER THE LIST OF VATABLE ITEMS

Last week at a media briefing at my office in Port of Spain to raise concerns about the reintroduction of Value Added Tax (VAT) on several basic food items I made reference to salt as one of those essential ingredients in our diet.

Salt, I noted, is so important it became the symbol of the Indian revolt against British rule, when the Congress Party encouraged everyone to make salt and defy the British; Mahatma Gandhi himself staged the famous “salt march” and made salt from the Indian ocean. Unfortunately, the Minister of Health misunderstood the symbolism and chose instead to take issue with salt in our diet.

“If you eliminate salt from your diet and that of your children you will lead a healthier life,” Terrence Deyalsingh told reporters, adding that he intended to “wage an intellectual war on salt” and other foods that are considered harmful to people’s health.

My Deyalsingh, like his leader Dr Keith Rowley, appears to be obsessed with sticking his nose in people’s kitchens where clearly, he has no business. What is worse, is that the Rowley Government is taking this position in order to justify the reintroduction of VAT on basic food items that were zero rated during my administration. Our rationale for doing it was to make food for the less fortunate in our society more affordable.

The Rowley administration is squeezing every penny from the poor and trying to justify their actions by preaching about health issues. If Mr Deyalsingh and Dr Rowley are so concerned about the health of citizens that they are taxing salt to discourage its use perhaps they should look at the various fast food outlets – including those doing business in our hospitals – where every item is a threat to healthy lifestyles.

My position and the position of the UNC is that the VAT increase is unfair as it targets the poor. I reiterate my statement that the government needs to revisit the list of items that will be subject to a 12.5% increase in cost from February 01st, 2016; there is still time to do it. Let me make it abundantly clear that when the PNM launched its election manifesto promising to reduce VAT to 12.5% it did not give the slightest hint of picking the pockets of the poor. The reintroduction of VAT on hundreds of basic food items is a con job.

Today, I call on the government to cease its puerile comments on people’s dietary choices and focus on truly dealing with the real health issues that face people right across our twin-island state.

OFFICE OF THE LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION
17th JANUARY 2016