#moralsofamangothief
#takeweforfool
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The nine-day memory is a real thing in today’s world but some of us do remember and compare, so we are not fooled, not at all.
We are being told by our AG that the new Public Procurement law cannot be implemented at this time because a significant number of Procuring Agencies are unprepared and that is totally unacceptable.
Let me explain.
Continue reading “Public Procurement Delays 2022”
Afra Raymond spoke with Shabaka Kambon on the Indaba radio programme on 91.1 Talk City. Their discussion centred on the ongoing delays in the implementation of the Public Procurement regime in Trinidad and Tobago. Audio courtesy 91.1 FM Talk City
Delaying the Procurement Law is Wrong! ‘rong like a Crix Biscuit!
This is my short video on the Attorney General’s Media Conference on Wednesday, 22 June 2022, and why we need to do better.
Please watch and Share – remember that Silence is the Enemy of Progress!
Afra Raymond was interviewed by Satesh Mahabir on Property Tax on the Morning Panchayat show on Aakash Vani 106.5 FM on 16th February, 2022. UNC Senator Jayanti Lutchmedial was the other guest on the programme.
Afra Raymond joins a panel on The Pandemic Economy, the pre-budget show on TV6 Television in Trinidad and Tobago, where he and the other speakers discuss the local construction industry and the public debt to it, public procurement along with the soon-to-be-implemented updated Property Tax regime. Video courtesy CCN TV6
Afra Raymond is interviewed by Jason Williams on The Morning Brew on CNC3 TV on the topic of property tax in light of the impending roll out of the updated taxation regime. Video courtesy CNC3 Television.
This article was first published on Tuesday, September 28, 2021 on the Wired868 website under the title, “Afra Raymond returns to Nelson Mandela Park and refuses to play ball with National Trust“
Supposedly in response to my own post in these pages on 9 September 2021, the National Trust made an engaging and informative post here on 17 September 2021. The most striking aspect of that reply was that the essential query was not addressed at all.
For those who have an interest in these issues, let me attempt to re-state here just what those essential issues are.
Continue reading “Response to National Trust Chairman on the Nelson Mandela Park proposal”
The T&T Guardian newspaper interviewed Afra Raymond on the issue of the new property tax regime and its re-introduction into the country. Following is the article with the series of Q&As with Editor/Journalist Debra Wanser for the article, published on Sunday, Sep 19 2021. Click here to read the complete article on the Trinidad and Tobago Guardian website
The Government collected $143 million in 2009, the year that the old Property Taxes ended.
The current estimates of the Property Tax to be collected are to the tune of $504 million annually, so that is about three-and-a-half times more than what property owners paid in 2009, according to Afra Raymond, chartered surveyor and managing director of Raymond & Pierre Limited.
The revenue lost over the last 12 years since the axing of the tax could be more than $5.50 billion, Raymond estimated.
Raymond, a past president of the Joint Consultative Council for the Construction Industry (JCC), said the move to implement the Property Tax would be widely unpopular at a time of many burning issues, including the COVID-19 pandemic and the existing socio-economic situations.
Raymond believes that with only a slim parliamentary majority, the introduction of the new Property Tax will be a considerable gamble for the Government.
T&T is getting set to reintroduce Property Tax as one of the revenue streams which is expected to bring in millions of dollars for the Treasury.
While there is no specific date given for the rollout, the Government has started laying the foundation. They are attempting to populate the valuation roll. The Government has put out advertisements calling on citizens to file information on property and land ownership with the Valuations Division, Ministry of Finance (MOF). If citizens fail to do so by the end of November 2021, they can face a fine of $5,000.
With this move, Property Tax can be levied on residential and commercial properties and agricultural lands.
Raymond felt that the objections from the Opposition United National Congress elements are bemusing, to say the least. This, he said, is for two reasons–”Firstly, the official record of tax collections from 1993 to 2009 as shown in the graph and table below. When the UNC was in power in the seven-year period 1995-2001, there was a dramatic and unexplained decline in the collections of Land & Building Taxes, which are collected in the non-municipal areas. That decline was reversed when the UNC left office. The table and chart give the details, based on my research in the official records of the Ministry of Finance.
“Secondly, the People’s Partnership (PP) used ‘Axe the Tax’ as a strong slogan in the 2010 general election which they won with 29 out of 41 seats. With that rare three-fifths majority in hand, there was tremendous scope for the PP to have lawfully changed or removed any laws or arrangements it wished, without any need for PNM support. Like the Property Tax, for instance. But that never happened, for whatever reason.”
You are of the view that the revision of the property tax is long overdue, can you elaborate on the need for this, please.
Yes, Property Tax is long overdue. The last time Property Tax was collected in T&T was in 2009, so 2022–which is next year, which is what is under discussion–would make that a total of 12 years that no taxes were paid by property owners. By any measure, that is a tremendous benefit that has been enjoyed by property owners. In the previous taxation system, the property taxes were called House Rates for the five Municipalities and Land & Building Taxes for the other parts of the country. The five municipalities are Port-of-Spain, San Fernando, Arima, Point Fortin and Chaguanas.
Afra Raymond was interviewed by Richard Ragoobarsingh and Senator Paul Richards on Power 102FM’s Power Breakfast Show on Property Tax, soon to be implemented in Trinidad and Tobago. Audio courtesy Power 102 FM
In response to a commentary article published on Sunday 11th July 2021 by the T&T Newsday newspaper by the TT Society of Planners (TTSP) and the TT Institute of Architects (TTIA) entitled “Feeble consultations on urban revitalisation plans erode public trust“ on Government’s urban revitalisation plans for Port of Spain and San Fernando, Afra Raymond responded with a Letter to the Editor, given the title, “We must insist on proper consultation“:
THE EDITOR: The joint letter from my colleagues at the T&T Society of Planners and the T&T Institute of Architects raised very important criticisms of the current wave of urban development projects, with the chronic levels of unacceptable secrecy and fake consultations.
On the secrecy issue, the State reportedly refused the JCC’s Freedom of Information request for the POS Revitalisation plan on the basis that it did not originate in that Ministry and that this was a series of privately-conceived projects. Those are not lawful exemption grounds under the FoIA as the public is entitled to receive information ‘in the possession of public authorities’, so there is no requirement for the State to originate that plan.
The fake consultation issue is a long-term and valid concern which was especially noted as the 17th recommendation of the Uff Report (2009):
“…User groups and other interest groups should be properly consulted on decisions regarding public building projects, to ensure that relevant views can be expressed at the appropriate time and taken into account before decisions are made…” (emphasis is mine)
Uff Report (2009)
Of course, the sitting Prime Minister was the leading voice calling for that Commission of Enquiry and indeed played a major role as a witness. We need to insist on the maintenance of proper consultation if we are to use our limited development options for equitable outcomes.
Afra Raymond
Port of Spain
AfraRaymond.net 