Legislators worked feverishly to pass the government’s 2005/2006 budget in the House of Assembly on Monday, but not before wrestling key questions from members of the official opposition led by former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham.
Mr. Ingraham noted with interest the government’s intent to raise some $1.3 billion in recurrent revenue.
His question was based on the government’s proposal to collect an additional $35 million in stamp taxes during the upcoming fiscal year when compared to the additional $29 million it hopes to collect in customs duties.
It was at this point that Mr. Ingraham launched a number of questions concerning the controversial Bimini Bay development, which he said he visited this past weekend.
“I am told that no stamp tax is being paid for imports on that project either,” he said.
“It was intended to be a project that would have a major hotel, casinos and some condo hotel rooms which could have benefited from such an exemption. No hotel is under construction and therefore I question the legality of the non payment of stamp tax.”
It was at this point that the North Abaco MP further charged that it is indecent to see so many foreigners working on such a small project in The Bahamas.
“I am told that you issued more than 100 work permits for a project that comprises essentially the construction of some condominium units, small houses, docking facilities, etc.,” Mr. Ingraham said.
To that, Labour and Immigration Minister Vincent Peet admitted to the House that a large number of permits were issued, a figure that could be 100 or more.
“The numbers are certainly higher than what I would have liked to have and we have in fact put a freeze on it with a view to ensure that the employer brings up the fees and salaries for Bahamians,” the Minister explained.
“There has been a visit from my labour officers and obviously there is a concern on the ground, which we are addressing.”
But Mr. Ingraham insisted the government answer how many work permits have been issued for the development and the amount of money being charged for the work permit fees.
“There is clearly no need in The Bahamas to have 100 Mexicans working on such a project,” he charged. “And so something must happen about that.”
Financial Services and Investments Minister Allyson Maynard-Gibson, however, reminded Mr. Ingraham that the Bimini Bay project was one that the Christie Administration met on the table in 2002. Since then, the project has been amended “in material ways.”
“In the agreement with the former administration, there was no restriction on the number of Bahamians or non-Bahamians that could be employed at that resort and so the reality is that the resort has now started in earnest and as the Honourable Member would know ads are placed in the usual way in the newspaper to seek the employment of Bahamians at that resort as at any other,” she said.
Minister Maynard-Gibson added that all of the incentives or concessions that the development now benefits from were negotiated by the former administration.
Mr. Ingraham again insisted that a copy of the amended Heads of Agreement for the Bimini Bay project be tabled in the House of Assembly, despite already securing one for himself.
“I have it and that is why I can say with such authority that you all are misleading the Bahamian people on this same issue,” he charged.
Mr. Ingraham also raised other questions, seeking clarification on the government’s intention to collect $50 million from commercial real property tax when in 2002/2003 and 2003/2004, it collected around $25 million to $27 million.
“What is the basis for this optimism?” he asked.
“The same applies for the tourism tax. The stopover visitor numbers are essentially the same as [they have] been for several years. The numbers are around 1.5 million. If that is so, what is it that is going to produce for the government this extra money in the tourism receipt of $50 million?”
Some of Mr. Ingraham’s questions were also aimed at the Registrar General’s office, which has been the focus of much controversy lately, particularly following a Supreme Court Justice ruling that government officials acted improperly and unfairly when they sought the termination of former Registrar General Elizabeth Thompson earlier this year.
“Hopefully, this whole question of who the Registrar General is, is going to be resolved quickly so that focus could be brought to the department to carry on with the administrative effectiveness and efficiency it ought to have,” he said.
Mr. Ingraham also asked for an update on the old City Markets building on Market Street, which his government bought with the intention of relocating the Registrar General’s Department.
Minister of Works and Utilities Bradley Roberts explained that the government will be transforming the building into a three-story facility to accommodate other government offices as well, thereby reducing the burden on taxpayers, who are now paying rent for other buildings.
By: Macushla N. Pinder, The Bahama Journal
