Focus on national security; police to get special tax-free allowance

Thousands of police officers in Trinidad and Tobago would get a special $1,000 a month special duty allowance that would be exempt from taxes, finance minister Winston Dookeran announced Wednesday as part of his budget presentation in the House of Representatives.

Dookeran said the officers will begin receiving the allowance from the beginning of October.

Noting that security is key to restoring confidence in the economy, Dookeran said the law and order sector will get a huge chunk of the national budget. He also promised that police would get all the necessary resources to do their work, including access to high-tech facilities for investigations and detection.

In addition the minister announced that special courts will be established to provide swift justice in cases of kidnapping anf firearms. "We will fix the problems," he pledged.

The minister also promised to imporve the efficiency of and strengthen the country's social safety net, which includes poverty reduction by 2 per cent a year,

He also announced that the minimum wage will be under review but did not say whether it would be increased from the present $9 an hour.

Other budgetary provisions include:

• pensions at 3,000 a month for seniors and public services workers on pension
• regulations for minimum standards at homes for seniors
• shuttle service for seniors
• rent-to-own housing program
• a limited tax amnesty for persons and businesses owing in excess of $13 billion in unpaid taxes
• a tax break of up to 15% of income for persons who contribute to the government's Children's Life Fund
• scrapping of the Property tax and a return to the Land and Building regulations at the old rates with a tax break for 2010
• improvement to delivery of services with a focus on quality customer care
• economic realignment with a focus on assisting the development and growth of small businesses
• revitalisation of the agricultural sector aimed at food self sufficiency
• expansion of tourism, to include sports tourism and a focus on cultural diversity
• incentives for investments in the energy sector
• incentives for energy conservation
• expansion of GATE to include vocational training
• a five-year health expansion program aimed at primary and secondary care
• boosting the efficiency of the public utilities, especially water
• creating of five economic zones
• regulations to make special services companies such as UDeCOTT more accountable and transparent
  

Dookeran said the People's Partnership government is committed to national development based on the needs of the people. However he also noted that revenues are down.

The minister said in 2007 there was $17.7 billion in the treasury, which tumbled to $9.7 billion in 2009. By September 2010, he said, it had dropped to just $4.3 billion. He added that the amount in the Heritage Stabilisation Fund is currently US$3.3 billion.

Dookeran said the budget is based on rebuilding the economy with a new policy direction. he said it's based on a projection of between three and five years.