No opposition support for new revenue agency

Opposition Senate leader Wade Mark told reporters in Port of Spain Monday his parliamentary colleagues would not support legislation to establish the Trinidad and Tobago Revenue Authority (TTRA).

Government announced last week that it would close the Customs and Excise Division and the Board of Inland Revenue and create the new TTRA, which would take over the responsibilities of the two agencies that now form part of the Trinidad and Tobago public service. The new agency would not be a civil service agency, the government said.

In making the announcement the minister of finance said all employees of the two agencies that are to be closed will get a severance package but none would be guaranteed re-employment in the new agency. That would be a matter for the authority to decide.

The Public Services Association (PSA), which represents most of the workers that would be affected by the change, has called the move a betrayal, saying discussion about the proposed change included three options for separation, including one that would allow workers to move to the TTRA or other areas of the civil service.

The government plan discards those two options and provides for just a payment with no further guarantees. The package would cost about $350 million.

Mark condemned the move, which will put over 2,100 public servants on the breadline. He charged that it was a government scam to increase taxes. He wanted to know where the Government would find the $350 million since it was not included in the budget.

"We condemn the action taken by the Ministry of Finance, we are in full support of the workers," said Mark. He added that all posts in the Public Service cannot be abolished without the approval of Parliament and VSEP cannot be forced on workers.

He also spoke about using the new authority as a political tool since it would not fall under the public service regulations and function similar to agencies like UDeCOTT, with no accountability. "They will use these political appointees in the revenue authority to harass and to spite all their political enemies," Mark said.

He demanded that any agency that collects 90 per cent of the state's revenue be accountable and must present itself for scrutiny before a Joint Select Committee (JSC) of Parliament.

Mark's colleague, Tim Gopeesingh, said an eight-member team that looked into problems in the Customs and Excise Division concluded that corruption was a major problem. He questioned how the government would deal with that issue in a new authority that is not subject to Parliamentary oversight.

SNAP ELECTION?

Mark also raised the possibility of a snap election. He said Prime Minister Patrick Manning is waiting to pounce on a weakened UNC and call an election to give him a constitutional majority.

He said Manning told his party's general council that he would once again postpone the local elections in favour of a national vote. The PNM has denied that.

Mark's reference to a weakened UNC relates to the internal rift within the party, with Jack Warner and Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj versus the rest. Both men have said repeatedly that the UNC needs to make some draconian changes or it will never win an election.

Warner has added a new angle to the story. He charged that both Vasant Bharath and Tim Gopeesingh had once attacked UNC leader Basdeo Panday, and Gopeesingh had even tried getting support from the Syrian community to remove him.

Gopeesingh denied that and suggested that Maharaj and Warner "are going on a path of no return". He said, "I feel sorry for them." he said.