President of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP), Verla Depeiza, addressing the Party’s Joint St. Philip meeting on Sunday.
Former Minister of Water Resources and former St. Philip West M.P., Dr. David Estwick, was in attendance at the meeting.
Don’t be surprised
President of the Democratic Labour Party, Verla Depeiza, believes that the current administration shouldn’t be so surprised that some Barbadians have rejected the new Garbage and Sewerage Contribution (GSC) which took effect in August.
“They encouraged people not to pay the Municipal Solid Waste Tax, so if people now take that same advice and use it in relation to the additional levy on their water bill – they cannot complain,” she stressed.
Under the GSC, the Barbados Water Authority (BWA) will collect $0.25 per household, per day on domestic accounts for sewage management, as well as $1.25 per household per day for garbage collections on behalf of the Sanitation Service Authority (SSA).
“We had a Municipal Solid Waste Tax that was based on your property and we were told how unfair that is; that it was another land tax, that it was an unequal and inequitable tax and Ms Mottley made these statements in public,” she recalled.
“But, it has been replaced by a tax that is also based on property because you would not get a water bill if there is no property. But worst, whereas the Municipal Solid Waste Tax was according to the size of your property, this one has everyone paying $1.50 a day, how can that be fair? And then to have the Minister and the Chairman of the Board of BWA say that they will disconnect your water if you don’t pay.”
The President, who was at the time addressing the St Philip joint meeting held at Princess Margaret Secondary School on Sunday evening, further stressed “How can you in these harsh times think to have such an inequitable tax? $1.50 a day sounds like not much, until you multiple 45 by 12 and you recognise that were paying approximately $600 extra on your water bill annually. And for most people their Municipal Solid Waste Tax bill wasn’t $300. So, you have a situation where you are now taxed more than you were before.”
Depeiza also highlighted that since the Barbados Labour Party won the May 24th general election money was borrowed, country defaulted on a debt and ordinary working Barbadians sent home.
“You were told that things were bad, are they not worse now,” Depeiza added. (TL)