PREMIER EWING’S ADDRESS TO THE NATION Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands, Thursday April 10, 2014 My fellow Turks and Caicos Islanders and residents of these beautiful by nature islands, it is with a deep sense of appreciation and gratitude that I embrace the opportunity that you have given me to right the wrongs that exist in our lands and to set this country on the path to prosperity and the achievement of the goal whereby everyone is empowered to succeed and can live in peace and harmony in these lands. I do recall my words on the campaign trail in 2012 that the future of Turks and Caicos is bright but the road ahead will not be easy, but it requires determination, decision making and leadership to enable us to stay the course and get us through the rough times to reach that which we desire. When my government took office almost a year and a half ago, we were very optimistic about the future of these islands and that optimism has not faded, it has indeed strengthened. We were elected to government against all odds but with the grace of God to work in the best interest of this country and its people. We are here because God wanted us here for this season and for these reasons and the challenges that we are facing today. We met a country that was facing major financial challenges coming out of a global recession. Over successive governments and the Interim Administration we have accumulated a debt which we as a government and a people now own and are obligated to pay as a fiscally responsible government. We met a situation where our recurrent expenditure was being funding significantly by non-recurrent revenue derived from the civil recovery of land and other assets. This method of revenue collection we deemed as unsustainable, just as it was for the sale of crown land to fund recurrent expenditure budget. In the 2013/14 budget there was projected revenue of 13 million dollars from non-recurrent source of civil recovery, but this did not materialize except for just over 1 million dollars in non-recurrent revenue which resulted in a significant shortfall in our expenditure budget. As a government we have several major obligations including the execution of our development agenda with the creation of public and private sector jobs, the provision of schools, roads, clinics, the effective growth of our civil service with trained, skilled and well paid employees and the development of a robust social safety net and national security system. These obligations are critical to our development as a nation. However, our challenge is meeting these obligations to the extent that is expected and required whilst meeting our obligation to service our $170 million loan as mandated by the $260 million loan guarantee financial management framework set out by the UK Government. There are many who are saying that this debt is not ours and we should not pay it. It is true that this debt was not incurred by this government, but by several elected governments as well as the UK Interim Administration, but nonetheless it is indeed Turks and Caicos debt and as a fiscally responsible government and people we must pay it. However, this does not exonerate the UK Government from reneging on their responsibility as a sovereign nation for debt forgiveness as they too must be blamed for the accumulation of the debt as well as the ongoing expenditure for SIPT for which they have refused my request to pay, as was recommended by Commissioner Sir. Robin Auld, lead SIPT prosecutor Helen Garlick, and the UK Foreign Affairs Committee. As a government we must demonstrate to the world and the UK that we are a mature nation, a financially prudent and fiscally stable and progressive nation capable of administering our own affairs and one that has a bright future. To this end if we want to succeed, we must do it ourselves and feel proud of our accomplishments. Nothing good in life comes easy and like our forefathers did we will persevere and pull through this. Our forefathers were left to fend for themselves once before and overcame the challenges and once again we are left to fend for ourselves under a new set of unfair, and restricting rules laid down for us, but again we will rise and shine. We all have a part to play and we all must contribute, we all must pay our way and be our brother’s keeper for the betterment of this nation. These are already extremely difficult times for many of us but if we recognize that the alternatives will bring even greater suffering then we will strengthen our resolve and with Gods guidance we will make it through. My government has recently put forward to the people of this country a strategy to deliver us through this period and unto better days. During our visits throughout the communities and conversing with constituents we are told of, and do see, and do recognize the difficulties being faced by the people, such as unemployment, social inequities in schools and healthcare and lack of security to name a few, all of which require funding to be adequately addressed. It is indeed unfortunate that we were unable to implement a reliable broad base tax measure immediately after the House of Assembly unanimously rejected VAT and had to alternatively implement temporary taxation measures to meet revenue shortfalls so that we could have met our promises for you the people and service our obligations. However, we do firmly believe that the implementation of a broad based tax such as payroll tax and the rationalization of other taxes so as to lower the cost of living, create jobs and stimulate the economy is the best strategy. This taxation strategy will enable us as government to reliably generate the revenue that is required to provide schools, clinics, roads, create jobs, increase civil service working conditions and benefits, and to service our loan obligations. It is critical that we are able to pay off the $170 million loan with a combination of funds from the sinking fund and additional borrowing so as to remove the UK loan guarantee and have more financial freedom in delivering for you the people. It is therefore also critical that we are able to get a good credit rating to enable us to borrow the additional funds in 2016 to pay off our loan and under more favorable terms. Our taxation strategy will allow us to lower the cost of living by significantly reducing customs import duties and to stimulate economic growth by implementing policies that incentivize to development of new and expansion of existing small and medium size business enterprises especially in the reserved categories of business and in the lesser developed family islands. Our taxation strategy will stop the implementation of VAT by the British, a tax that a united people and house of assembly rejected and a tax that would adversely impact the small man on the street who is unemployed or underemployed more so than would payroll tax which does not affect the unemployed. Our taxation strategy would enable this government to afford the foregoing of revenue in tax breaks, incentives and concessions to encourage entrepreneurship especially among our young people as we grow our middle class. No one loves taxation, but this tax strategy is a necessary means to break the vicious cycle of the rising cost of living whilst encouraging economic growth and enabling us to adequately provide for and meet the needs of our people and our growing nation. There are many concerns about the apparent low level of compliance in the collection of government revenue in taxes, licenses and fees. This is an area of concern and too many individuals want reap the fruit but dont want to sow the seed. There are many who can pay and refuse to pay. Tax avoidance and tax fraud would not be tolerated and the establishment and operation of businesses without the relevant license would not be tolerated. The government has recently revised the business licensing regulations to increase the categories of business licenses from 66 to over 200 and increased the reserved category from 19 to 98 including a new restricted category. This revision enabled the government to equitably revise business license fees and to be better able to monitor activities in the various categories of business the previous operated under the miscellaneous category and hence improve compliance efforts. The government will be submitting to the House of Assembly a bill for the establishment of a National Revenue government whose mandate will be the collection and enforcement of the collection of government taxes, licenses and fees such as business license, accommodation tax, payroll tax etc. this initiative would significantly improve compliance efforts across government and participating statutory bodies. The combined efforts of our taxation strategy and revenue compliance measures will ensure that government collects the revenue that is required for us to meet your needs as individuals, communities and a nation. There are many other strategies for growth and development that we the government intends to implement and that are contingent upon adequate financing and with these measures we will deliver for you. So, stay tuned for further updates on new developmental policies and strategies by this your government that is working for you. END
Posted on: Fri, 11 Apr 2014 00:09:55 +0000
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