Nassau, Bahamas - Enclosed is Sen. Hon. Alex Storr 2016-2017 Budget Debate June 27th 2016:
MADAM PRESIDENT
I stand to voice my approval for what will be the last budget
presented in this current term. Before I
deal directly with the matter at hand, I would like to thank God for allowing
me stand here once again in service to the Bahamian people. I would also like to thank Prime Minister
Christie for his continued confidence in me and allowing me to be a part of his
team. I would like to send condolences
to the family of Stalwart Councillor Effie Cartwright from Deadman’s Cay Long
Island who passed away last week. She
was predeceased by her husband Carl who was also a Stalwart. I can remember
visiting with them as they sat on their front porch in Deadman’s Cay and shared
stories about my mother and growing up in Long Island. I would also like to once again send
condolences to the family of SC Alphonso Shearer of Bunches Long Island whose
funeral I attended last weekend at Beulah Baptist Church in Simms. Mr. Shearer and Mr. & Mrs. Cartwright
were instrumental in my decision to accept the nomination for Long Island. They remained faithful to the party despite
the fact that we had not nominated a candidate in 15 years. I remember Mr. Cartwright telling me that he could die happy
because he now had a PLP candidate to vote for.
It was an honour for me to provide them with an opportunity to exercise
their voting rights in what would be their last time voting, for the party they
had fought for all their life. May their
souls rest in peace.
MADAM PRESIDENT
I begin by saying without fear of contradiction that The Bahamas is
in a better place today than it was when the Progressive Liberal Party first
took office back in May 2012. There are
some of you that would love for the Bahamian people to believe that this
administration has done absolutely nothing for the past four years. The truth is that those who would tarnish and
belittle the accomplishments of this administration do so for the sole purpose
of trying to get the Progressive Liberal Party out of office and thereby derail
the ongoing progress being made. When
this Government took office it was in a time when the world's economy was in an
awful state which along with the remarkably horrible fiscal management of the
previous administration had adversely affected the Bahamian economy. After we took office we found that while we
were correct in our fears, the economy and financial state of The Bahamas was much
worse than we had anticipated while in opposition. The previous administration had failed the
Bahamian people coupled with the effects of the global recession. This country went from a budget surplus to a
deficit of over half a billion dollars in five shorts years under the previous
administration. The Leader of the
Opposition went as far as to say that they left the economy in a wheelchair, an
admission of their fiscal mismanagement.
I guess they want another chance so they can finish of the patient.
MADAM PRESIDENT
From day one, the Progressive Liberal Party Government led by the Rt.
Hon. Perry Christie set our shoulders to the wheel to right the wrongs of the
previous FNM administration. A task
which we had to do once before in our 2002 to 2007 term of office. The public should note that while the Free
National Movement is excellent at creating the perception of work being done,
the Progressive Liberal Party gets the job done. So much so, that the previous administration
had only to sit back and watch the projects and programmes of the 2002 - 2007
PLP administration unfold. However
because of their need to stop, review and cancel to ensure that the FNM stamp
was put on everything, progress was frittered away. I say to the Bahamian people that we cannot
revert to this type of Governance; we must continue to move forward. We are now on the right track and turning
back to the failed policies and fiscal mismanagement of the Free National
Movement would set the country in reverse.
This administration has been able to accomplish much on behalf of the
Bahamian people. While there is still
much work to be done many Bahamians are benefiting from the policies,
programmes and initiatives of the present Government.
MADAM PRESIDENT
In the past four years, this Government has created a tertiary level
institution which is devoted to educating Bahamians in the field of agriculture
and marine sciences. This institution is
the Bahamas Agriculture and Marine Science Institute (BAMSI). This is an incredible feat Madam President to
have created something so innovative on the island of Andros which is a short
plane or boat ride from New Providence.
Can you imagine how much more effective BAMSI and the creation of a
commuter town would have been had the FNM not cancel plans to place the port in
southwestern New Providence? Madam
President, the true success of BAMSI is being overshadowed by politics and I
certainly hope that the Bahamian people will understand how significant this
institution is to the food security of The Bahamas and to generating more
trained agricultural entrepreneurs.
BAMSI produce is available in stores, there have been students who have
signed up from all over the country and it is now branching out to other
islands. BAMSI has graduated it first crop of students who received associate
degrees and we have garnered praise from our Caribbean neighbours. I will be happy when I can go into the food
stores and only see native grown fruit.
No more pineapples from Hawaii or mangoes from Honduras. This is
progress.
MADAM PRESIDENT
The National Training Agency (NTA) was another programme that was
stopped by the former administration.
This programme is now operational after being established and opened by
this Government. This agency has
assisted thousands of young people in acquiring marketable skills with which
they can obtain gainful employment.
Since opening its doors the NTA has expanded into the Family Island
where it has trained more Bahamians.
Island such as Grand Bahama, Exuma and Eleuthera now have the presence
of the NTA which young Bahamians can attend free of charge. Some of the graduates of this programme have
been able to find work in the area which they have received training. No one can truthfully say that this programme
is not assisting our young people. This
is progress.
MADAM PRESIDENT
In the budget debate of 2012/2013 it was revealed that the Bahamas
had a budget deficit of over $500 million dollars. This does not include overdue bills and other
commitments left behind by the former administration after having borrowed
billions of dollars. In four short years
the Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Rt. Hon. Perry Christie and the
Minister of State for Finance, Hon. Michael Halkitis have led the charge of
fiscal reform that has led to the reduction of the budget deficit to
approximately $150 million dollars.
According to the Minister of Finance the deficit was reduced by and
astounding 80 percent or $439 million. The Government has reduced the deficit
each and every year since assuming office.
This is nothing short of a miracle given the circumstances. A feat that
even the side opposite should applaud.
For this reduction to be achieved not only did the Government have to be
prudent in its spending but we also had to fulfil our commitments to the Bahamian
people as detailed in our Charter For Governance, while effecting reform to our
tax regime. This was yet another
accomplishment of the Christie administration.
For decades upon decades Governments have discussed the revenue streams
of the country lamenting the customs duties regime was not going to sustain the
expenses of the country.
MADAM PRESIDENT
This Government after wide consultation with local and international
experts implemented the Value Added Tax system.
The roll out of this system has been relatively smooth and
successful. While no one likes to pay
taxes we all have to play our role in the operation, upkeep and future
development of our country. Value Added
Tax is not exclusive to The Bahamas; however the Christie Administration has
been able to introduce this system with the lowest rate in the Caribbean of
7.5%. In this budget period, VAT is
being removed from some items. In his contribution on the budget in that other
place the Minister of State for Finance said, “It
is evident that a lower VAT rate will yield somewhat less revenue than we had
originally expected. As such, across-the-board reductions in tariffs and
excises will not be feasible at the time of introduction. There have been selective reductions in
certain areas, as seen in the amendments to the Tariff and Excise Acts that
were tabled at the same time as the VAT Bill.
During this budget we have seen further duty exemptions and reductions
including expanding “the tariff concessions available to light manufacturing by
allowing items not on the approved list to be granted full duty exemption on
approval of the Minister;
· allow
churches to import air conditioners duty free;
· reduce
or eliminate the duty on a number of household and grocery items, including
appliances and parts, food items including prepared turkey, ham, beef and
chicken meat, macaroni, spaghetti with meat, ice cream, biscuits, waffles,
cakes and pastries among others;
The elimination of the duty on baby clothes and reduce
the duty on used clothing;
The elimination of the duty on costume jewellery,
perfumes and certain leather goods;
The reduction of the duty rate on computer peripherals,
routers and related items;
The reduction of all remaining rates of duty of 7% to a
5% rate;
The reduction or elimination of the duty on various
building materials such as plywood, sheet rock, cement, roofing tiles and
shingles, electrical wiring, marble and granite and other stones among others;
The reduction of the environmental levy on used tires
to reflect the low value cost of such imports”.
Also a part of the tax
reform undertaken by this Government has been the transformation of the
Customs, Business License and Real Property Tax. In the past four years there have been
programmes and initiatives to encourage the payment of outstanding taxes
especially Real Property Tax. In his
Budget communication, Rt. Hon Prime Minister and Minister of Finance said,
“Currently, there are 99,556 properties on the property tax register, with 12.6
per cent classified as residential, some 57.2 per cent as owner-occupied, 23.6
per cent as vacant land and roughly 6.5 per cent as commercial properties. A
total of 43,003 properties are now fully exempted from the payment of property
taxes. During this fiscal year, 42.5% or 24,008 of taxable properties have paid
taxes amounting to just over $100 million.”
I also note with great pleasure that an amnesty will be granted
to persons whose documents were not stamped under the Stamp Duty Exemption
granted in our previous term. This would
have been the fault of their attorney in most cases but they would have been
expected to bear the cost. As a matter
of fact, one of the first matters that was presented to me as Chairman of BMC
was a list of over 100 persons whose documents were not stamped and were now
expected to pay the Stamp Duty. I asked
our attorney to hold off on sending out the notification letters as I began
correspondence with the Minster of State for Finance. I was told that the other mortgage lenders
had a similar challenge and I would like to think that this exemption is in
some small way due to my efforts.
MADAME PRESIDENT
We are on our way to the implementation of the revamped Mortgage
Relief Plan. We are not just talk on
this important matter. Hundreds of Bahamians
are seeking help with maintaining a roof over their heads and it is here. We have created a new plan in conjunction
with commercial lenders that will save homes.
The plan is in line with what we have already been doing at The Bahamas
Mortgage Corporation. We have saved the
homes of countless Bahamian families at BMC with little fanfare and will
continue to do what is within our power to save more.
This is progress.
MADAM PRESIDENT
Crime continues to be a challenge for all of us. We all see and are aware of the amount of
lives that have been lost on our streets to violence. We all are aware of the senseless reasoning
behind many of these deaths. We must
continue to fight the scourge of crime and criminal activity in the
country. This is by no means an
admission of defeat on the part of the Government. It is however, a call for the collective
effort of all right thinking Bahamians to adopt a zero tolerance for
crime. All crime must be condemned
whether it is committed by a neighbour, family or friend. We live in a society where people complain
about crime, but don’t think twice about running the red light. Where people complain about the armed
robberies, but don’t think twice about parking in a disabled parking spot. Where people complain about the drug pushers,
but don’t think twice about driving under the influence of alcohol. Madame President, crime is crime, whether
minor or major. We must all do our part
to make this a better, safer, nation and not one of lawlessness. It has been announced and statistics have
shown that overall crime is down.
Statistics revealed by the Minister of National Security shows that
crime was down by some 29% year over year from Jan – June 2016. In that same period the numbers of murders
were down from 69 to 54. These, of
course, are not numbers to rejoice over because each one represents a life
taken. However, it is an indication that
our strategies are working. I submit
Madam President, that while crime is not political, had the former administration
stayed the course in the fight against crime, had they continued the programmes
and initiatives started by the Progressive Liberal Party's 2002-07
administration, the nation would be further in the fight, gaining more results. As it happened this PLP administration had to
restart what was previously left in place.
These initiatives are once again bearing fruit. In the Charter for Governance we committed to
holistically combat crime through effective prevention, detection, prosecution
and rehabilitation. We have done just
that with the reintroduction of Urban Renewal, Swift Justice, the seating of
HONLEA group, the introduction of the Bahamas Department of Corrections Act,
the provision of needed equipment and personnel for the armed forces as well as
advancement of positive youth programmes such as the National Training
Programme and are well on our way once again to arresting this persistent
issue. This is progress.
MADAM PRESIDENT
There can be no doubt or argument that most if not all of the major
advancements in Bahamian history have been made under a Progressive Liberal
Party Government. This administration
is continuing this great tradition with the introduction of the National Health
Insurance Scheme. When this programme is
launched it will immediately positively impact the lives of many
Bahamians. For generations past to
present, Bahamians of little means have had to depend on the kindness of others
to assist in defraying the costs of needed medical attention and or
procedures. This lack of funds in many
instances has led to the bankruptcy of many families and the untimely death of
many people. Having had my own medical challenge, I know first-hand exactly how
expensive lifesaving medical treatment can be.
I was lucky to have medical insurance but money can mean the difference
between life and death. This is something that we cannot allow to
continue. The Government has indicated
that it will begin with primary health care.
The Opposition Leader has espoused that his version of National Health
Insurance would concentrate on catastrophic care. Madam President, I am no doctor but it would
seem logical that if a person receives good primary health care that the need
for catastrophic care decreases. Given
that in The Bahamas the occurrence of communicable diseases in our people is at
the highest levels in the regions and that these diseases can lead to the loss
of limbs and other more serious afflictions.
It seems reasonable to me that the Government would concentrate on
primary health care. This is what a
caring Government would do. This is
progress...
Full 2016-2017 Budget Debate attached below