Couva North MP Ramona Ramdial says she is being bombarded with calls from constituents who are worried that additional taxes will be imposed on their US dollar accounts as a means of raising foreign exchange.
She said this followed Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley’s statement in his address to the nation last Tuesday that private individuals have approximately $3.6 billion in foreign exchange.
“People want to know what exactly the Prime Minister mean when he says that their assets can be used to assist. We are yet to hear how this can be done,” the Opposition parliamentarian told the Sunday Guardian.
Ramdial said employees on the Point Lisas Industrial Estate were also worried about job security. “People are worried that they are holding on to their jobs by a thread and will be fired when it is deemed necessary by their employers.
“It’s very sad in the new year to see that the unions are very silent, especially the OWTU who represent the majority of workers in the energy sector The Prime Minister made an appeal to stop any further job cuts in the energy sector but it is inevitable that this will happen. Once oil and gas prices do not recover there are going to be further job cuts in the energy sector.
“The plan by the Government is very shoddy to introduce new taxes to create revenue. We should look at creative ways to diversify. The Prime Minister spoke about housing and stimulating the economy through the housing sector, but what about agriculture, tourism, ship building and repair? These are non-energy sectors that the former government invested in heavily.”
She said Agriculture Minister Clarence Rambharat’s plan to use URP labour in the agriculture sector was not new. It was introduced three years ago by the People’s Partnership and was still in effect.
“If we are looking to cut our food import bill we need to start growing local and invest in our local farmers so we do not have to spend so much foreign exchange on food imports,” she said.