Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley says his Cabinet made a decision yesterday that none of its members will access any loan to buy a luxury vehicle which falls in the new increased tax bracket.
He said, “Especially because we can’t afford it (fuel), we must now be concerned about how we use fuel and become more fuel conscious. What is wrong with that?”
Rowley’s announcement came immediately following Finance Minister Colm Imbert’s 50 per cent increase in taxes on luxury vehicles with engines over 1999cc in a series of sweeping tax measures.
He said if it was the policy of the country, then it applied to all.
“So anybody who wants to buy a bigger car...to buy a high-end car, buy it with your own money. That is a decision made on this side.
“All members of Government agreed. It is not law but a commitment we have made. The same way we are encouraging the rest of the country to do that, we hold ourselves to the same thing.”
The PM’s revelation came as he responded to Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s presentation on the mid-year budget review in the Parliament.
He said Government will also make decisions in the best interest of all as it pertains to workers who’ve lost their jobs. He noted that while his Government had intervened to assist the 400 workers of Grand Bay, there were those outside and inside of the Parliament who were calling for intervention in the ArcelorMittal situation where 600-plus workers were terminated.
But Rowley said, “That is a $3 billion exposure in an environment where the product, steel, is facing tremendous challenges from the world leading steel exporter. But we are getting advice—What is the government doing? What about the workers?”
He said they were the same people who were exhorting his Government to intervene in some way, although they had not said how to intervene.
“But the Government must intervene in ArcelorMittal...so on one hand, do something without getting what the something is about 600 jobs, but on the other hand when you do something about 400 jobs you get castigated.”
The PM said his People’s National Movement (PNM) Government will make the decisions on a case-by-case basis and will make decisions in the best interest of the people of the country.
He slammed Persad-Bissessar’s response, saying she struggled for 90 minutes but ended up advising his Government “that you are in charge; take charge.”
Rowley said, “In April of 2016, this is the advice we are getting, but in September of 2015 that position was very offensive to them. Clearly, it appears as though some epiphany has taken place on the other side of the House and the Member for Siparia, having struggled for an hour and a half and having not engaged a single item of content of the Minister of Finance, ended up by saying...I tried to take notes because I knew I was speaking after my colleague from Siparia, but I didn’t have much to write down because the member made a case that this proceeding today was somehow unusual.”