No new taxes: PM Kamla keeps her campaign promise

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar on Sunday borrowed words from a former American president to assure citizens of Trinidad and Tobago that she will not break her campaign promises to them.

"Read my lips, no new taxes," she said at a media briefing in Tobago at the end of a 4-day workshop for members of her cabinet.

Finance Minister Winston Dookeran will present the People's Partnership government's first budget on Wednesday and Persad-Bissessar made it clear that there will be no new taxes and lower land and building taxes.

"What we've done, we've promised and we will keep that promise. The property tax will not be implemented, it will be repealed and so on but there must be something in place, so we will revert back to the lands and building taxes," Persad-Bissessar told the media.

She explained that the cabinet had to lower the taxes because the Manning PNM administration had increased those taxes by revaluing lands.

"So even going back to the old land and building taxes people will be paying more... so we're lowering the lands and building taxes," she said.

The plan, she explained, would mean that for 2010 there will be no additional land taxes since the year is nearing an end "so you have a moratorium for 2010 in a sense."

Commenting on the retreat, Persad-Bissessar said the workshops provided an opportunity for the Government to assess its performance since taking office in May.

During the election campaign her People's Partnership made 32 pledges that it said would be delivered within 120 days of forming the government. She said so far, with three weeks to that deadline, only seven items on the list have not been delivered.

And she said her ministers are working hard for 100 per cent success on delivering on the pledges.

"The Ministers who are responsible are on red alert now to deal with those issues," she said, adding that the government will do its best to try to keep all its promises to the people.