Englerston Member of Parliament Glenys Hanna-Martin said yesterday that promises made by the Minnis administration in the Speech from the Throne and the reality of what has been fulfilled is like “night and day.”
During her contribution in the House of Assembly yesterday, she deemed it glaring inconsistencies with the promises and a colossal backtrack like she has never seen.
“The great promises that I’ve outlined seemed to have fallen by the wayside now withering in the sun and we have seen Mr. Speaker colossal backtracking,” she said.
“No free education with boarding at UB. No great economic injection for Englerston or Baintown or Centreville. VAT went from being a regressive tax to a highly positive tax, according to the same spokesman who is now the minister of finance. Now we are hearing talks of income tax.”
While the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has strongly suggested that the government introduce income tax, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Peter Turnquest stood and stressed that there has been no discussion on its implementation.
However, Mr. Turnquest said he has not ruled it out.
Mrs. Hanna-Martin also expressed concern over the $7 million the Minnis administration borrowed right after taking office.
She charged that the country has yet to receive a real explanation for it.
Additionally, the minister brought up state owned enterprises, commonly referred to SOEs, Baha Mar and the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance.
“A decision was made that the government would not continue with that insurance policy because you’re paying and you can’t claim,” she said.
“Now the insurance company then wrote to the new government and said come do business with me. Well, they did business with them and what they did, they paid $2.6 million for a premium and then they got a payout of $397,598 and guess what the minister said? At least we get something.”
As Mrs. Hanna-Martin told it, the past four months has been a truly transformative period, one that shifted from a great celebratory mode to an assault on the people.
