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Ameen: Goverment not relying on property tax

WHILE admitting funding shortages, Minister of Rural Development and Local Government Khadijah Ameen says the government is not relying in property tax to fund regional corporations. She made the comment while responding to a newspaper report that suggested the ministry’s projects have stalled due the unavailability of property tax funds. In a media release on July 13, the ministry said the headline in the Guardian newspaper titled “Ameen’s project plans stall without property tax funds” is inaccurate and sensational. The article claimed Minister Khadijah Ameen summoned officials from regional corporations to a meeting last Tuesday to plan funding for projects and urged them to swiftly implement short-term employment projects. It suggested regional corporations are facing shortfalls because they are unable to access any of the property tax money due the repeal of the Trinidad and Tobago Revenue Authority (TTRA) Act which outlined how that money would be distributed. The ministry, however, said the story was misleading as property tax was “only briefly mentioned as one of several budget lines.” It added, “The suggestion that the minister is relying on property tax revenue to roll out projects is a fabrication. “The ministry is managing the current budget with fiscal prudence and transparency, while correcting years of underfunding under the previous administration.” It said the primary objective of the meeting was to ensure that all municipal corporations were on track with their allocations and had properly submitted funding requests. “During the meeting, several corporations highlighted shortfalls in critical areas due to the former government providing insufficient allocation to cover expenses such as wages, cost of living allowance (COLA), scavenging and other day-to-day operational needs. “In some cases, corporations had received up to five months less of their required funding.” It said the meeting focused on strategies to cover these shortfalls using reallocations from less essential areas within their existing budgets, “Especially in light of underallocations inherited from the previous administration.” The ministry said discussions also involved identifying funding gaps and determining how best to secure additional support to maintain core services. “These are essential efforts to protect jobs, continue services and respond to community needs.” It denied the claim that projects had stalled describing it as “entirely false” and said corporations continue to implement development programmes and community initiatives. Ameen offered an assurance to all corporations, their daily-paid employees, contractors, and suppliers that “Despite the financial challenges left by the previous administration… the ministry is committed to protecting jobs, sustaining essential services, and ensuring that all payments for completed work are honoured.” Al-Rawi: Ameen treating the public as fools Former minister Faris Al-Rawi described Ameen’s comments as “stupid” and argued she was looking for a reason to blame the PNM. “If the problem was underfunding then it could have been solved in the mid-year budget review. Wasn’t she a participant in that? “So it is clear that she’s like an iguana with a light shining in her eyes. She is frozen. Because that makes absolutely no sense.” He said Ameen’s explanation fell flat and accused her of treating the public as fools. “You cannot say that it is under-allocated, when you went to the Parliament to deal with exactly that in the mid-year (budget review). “It is just a deep reflection of ill-preparedness, illogical construction of thoughts, and it’s just treating us all as if we’re fools.” He said any failure to sufficiently supplement the allocation for the ministry was Ameen’s fault as she would have been the person to determine the amount needed in the budget review. Al-Rawi said the UNC’s promises have only worsened the financial problems regional corporations have faced for years. “They came in and on the first day you heard (Finance Minister Davendranath) Tancoo say they’re scrapping the property tax” “(But) we knew that local corporations, municipal corporations required more revenue perennially. “They’ve been asking for it forever and the country could not afford to give more. So we came up with a logical system by which you could gain more money directly at source to be applied in the area that it was raised.” He added the property tax would have been a significant source of income for regional corporations but said the UNC derailed the “logical” solution created under the PNM. “We showed how many extra tens and twenties and thirties of millions that would equal to and we said where it would go. “We had a plan for revenue and expenditure. What did you get from the other side? ‘Yellow is the code. When we win, everybody win.’ What else you heard apart from that?” Ameen alleges corruption in URP Meanwhile, Ameen revealed what she described as “alarming revelations” about widespread corruption and political interference in the Unemployment Relief Programme (URP) under the former PNM administration. In another media release on July 13, the ministry said, “Of the $300 million allocated to URP for this fiscal year, a staggering $231 million has already been drawn down, yet only $2 million has been spent on actual goods and services.” It added the overwhelming majority of funds were used for payroll and alleged hundreds of people received salaries without performing any work or duties. It noted an individual who is currently studying abroad at a foreign university is still receiving a URP salary. “Several other individuals are similarly listed as employees while living overseas or not reporting to work at all.” The ministry added, “Ghost gangs are being operated by political insiders, where names are submitted for payment and workers receive only a portion of the funds while the rest is pocketed by ‘gang bosses.’” Ameen said the former government has “serious questions to answer.” “Since the change in government, a number of ghost employees have been quietly resigning, suggesting they were aware of the wrongdoing.” Ameen described the lead-up to the General Election as a feeding frenzy within URP, and alleged “overspending and over hiring” of people with political connections. She claimed over 500 URP work groups originally assigned to Tobago were removed and reallocated to six regions along the East-West corridor considered marginal seats. “This is not only abuse of state funds, it is an insult to the unemployed men and women across the country who genuinely needed unemployment relief.” Ameen added, “It is atrocious that we have this level of corruption while the unemployment rate amongst the population sky rocketed under the PNM.” She said the government remains committed to fixing what she described as a broken system. “We will create real jobs for genuinely unemployed people. We will root out corruption to end the wastage of taxpayers’ money. We will ensure resources go to those who truly need it.” Ameen added she is focsed on rooting out corruption. “Every dollar saved by ending fraud and mismanagement will go towards meaningful employment, not political payoffs.” The post Ameen: Goverment not relying on property tax appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.