Dear Editor,
Has the new Minister of Finance Audley Shaw gone out to lunch? I am forced to ask this question based on reports in the media quoting Shaw as saying that he is frustrated with the naysayers of the promised tax break which he has failed to implement on April 1, as had been committed.
Is Shaw saying that people should not question whether or not this plan will be implemented, even after we have now realised that the party misrepresented the facts about the money that was supposed to be in a special tax fund?
I honestly believe that Jamaicans are extremely humble about this tax plan that never came to fruition, and it would please Shaw to show some humility just the same.
I am wondering if he is cursing the people for being impatient about a plan that was promised and which they bought in to and voted for.
If Shaw is asking the people to be patient and not to ask questions, then the Government must come clean and admit that they made an epic blunder that is being polished off as delay. The deflecting is giving rise to the suspicion that they never did due diligence or the commitment was just outright political gluttony.
I am well aware that those who sit at the feet of the Jamaica Labour Party, like the blind man at the gate, will say that only people who will be beneficiaries of the tax plan should be vociferous, but I am sure they will gladly agree with me that if the tax plan fails then it would be devastating for the country.
I urge Shaw not to rubbish the concerns of the naysayers, but to come forward and, in some way or the other, indicate before the budget how the Government plans to proceed.
Ralston Chamberlain
Ontario, Canada
ralston.chamberlain@alum.utoronto.ca
Has the new Minister of Finance Audley Shaw gone out to lunch? I am forced to ask this question based on reports in the media quoting Shaw as saying that he is frustrated with the naysayers of the promised tax break which he has failed to implement on April 1, as had been committed.
Is Shaw saying that people should not question whether or not this plan will be implemented, even after we have now realised that the party misrepresented the facts about the money that was supposed to be in a special tax fund?
I honestly believe that Jamaicans are extremely humble about this tax plan that never came to fruition, and it would please Shaw to show some humility just the same.
I am wondering if he is cursing the people for being impatient about a plan that was promised and which they bought in to and voted for.
If Shaw is asking the people to be patient and not to ask questions, then the Government must come clean and admit that they made an epic blunder that is being polished off as delay. The deflecting is giving rise to the suspicion that they never did due diligence or the commitment was just outright political gluttony.
I am well aware that those who sit at the feet of the Jamaica Labour Party, like the blind man at the gate, will say that only people who will be beneficiaries of the tax plan should be vociferous, but I am sure they will gladly agree with me that if the tax plan fails then it would be devastating for the country.
I urge Shaw not to rubbish the concerns of the naysayers, but to come forward and, in some way or the other, indicate before the budget how the Government plans to proceed.
Ralston Chamberlain
Ontario, Canada
ralston.chamberlain@alum.utoronto.ca