Searchlight Logo
special_image

    • News
      • Front Page
      • News
      • Breaking News
      • Press Release
      • Features
      • Special Features
      • From the Courts
      • Sports
      • Regional / World
    • Opinions
      • Editorial
      • Our Readers’ Opinions
      • Bassy – Love Vine
      • Dr. Fraser- Point of View
      • R. Rose – Eye of the Needle
      • On Target
      • Dr Jozelle Miller
      • The World Around Us
      • Random Thoughts
    • Advice
      • Kitchen Corner
      • What’s on Fleek this week
      • Health Wise
      • Physician’s Weekly
      • Business Buzz
      • Hey Rosie!
      • Prime the pump
    • ePaper
    • Obituaries
      • In Memoriam / Acknowledgement
      • Tribute
    • Contact Us
      • Advertise With Us
      • Letters To The Editor
      • General Contact Information
      • Contact our Webmaster
    • About Us
      • Privacy Policy
      • Interactive Media Ltd
      • St. Vincent & the Grenadines
    • Subscribe
    • News
      • Front Page
      • News
      • Breaking News
      • Press Release
      • Features
      • Special Features
      • From the Courts
      • Sports
      • Regional / World
    • Opinions
      • Editorial
      • Our Readers’ Opinions
      • Bassy – Love Vine
      • Dr. Fraser- Point of View
      • R. Rose – Eye of the Needle
      • On Target
      • Dr Jozelle Miller
      • The World Around Us
      • Random Thoughts
    • Advice
      • Kitchen Corner
      • What’s on Fleek this week
      • Health Wise
      • Physician’s Weekly
      • Business Buzz
      • Hey Rosie!
      • Prime the pump
    • ePaper
    • Obituaries
      • In Memoriam / Acknowledgement
      • Tribute
    • Contact Us
      • Advertise With Us
      • Letters To The Editor
      • General Contact Information
      • Contact our Webmaster
    • About Us
      • Privacy Policy
      • Interactive Media Ltd
      • St. Vincent & the Grenadines
    • Subscribe
Bassy - Love Vine
April 21, 2006

VAT… Vextatious Added Tax

One ah the reason why ah ain’t write nothing bout VAT yet is because ah ain’t overs what it all about. Ah check the dictionary and it got only two VAT in dey, de VATican in Rome and the VAT as in ah rum cast. Lie-Za say that dey fooling we say that VAT is Value Added Tax, what Value on whose Tax, dey not interested in Adding Value to Agriculture, but dey like hurry, hurry bird to meet dead-line to Add Value to Tax, she swear that VAT mean ah piece ah Viciously Added Tax. {{more}}

VAT means more revenue foh the Guv-ah-mint which is not ah crime since everybody will contribute! The problem is, who will feel it most? De Poor, de lickle Man. All those people whose salary was below $12,000 ah year and didn’t pay Tax, will pay it at the stores and at the Utility Services. In Dominica the VAT on Electricity bill is 15%. That is just ah indicator.

So what can we do bout VAT? Plenty! Begin by getting you taste buds adjusted again to more local foods and locally manufactured products. There will be no VAT on Yams, Breadfruit, Bananas, Carrots, Fish and so on. As ah matter ah fact we can even do better by planting-up whatever lickle garden space round de house; ah dollar save is two dollars earned. And when done dey want to put Agriculture in the back ah the vehicle.

REN-RICK AND CED-RICK ALL FOH AGRICULTURE

That is why ah was energized last week by two articles on Agriculture. Ren-Rick “Banana” Rose, ah do-no way mek he ain’t change his name from ah Rose to ah Fruit, ah Banana, he endorse-singing Agricul-ture as ah major player in our development. Hear how Ren-Rick put it “no amount of tourism or service industries will be able to save us. We will become a nation (Caribbean) of soul-less people, providing services, earning dollars only to become trapped in modern-day consumerism”. De Gospel! And another Rick this time Ced-Rick Harold add-in his two-sense bit sorry, ten-sense bit ah endorse-mint foh Agriculture. His is like Lamentation, “We have become, in other words, no longer major producers of primary products, but the importer of same from, of all places, the industrialized countries”, further on he says “We have a succession of political directorates who pay lip service to Agriculture and who build the people’s hopes on Technological Revolutions allowing us to leapfrog Agriculture”. Thanks fellars. Foh those who ain’t know, Ced-rick is Vincy, Carib descendant, now ah retired UWI Professor living in Jah-mek-her.

AH VINCY BUFFER PRODUCT

Ah will continue to blow ah shell foh Agriculture and people like Bro Andre “Bufferman Cleaners” Providence. Bufferman read one ah the labels on the wax products that he uses to mek the vehicle look shine, and saw that the main ingredient was from ah plant grown in Brazil. His scientific mind started to tick, and he figured that the Dasheen leaves could have the same properties. He contacted ah couple international funding Agencies and had our Dasheen leaves anal-lies. Guess what? The extract from the Dasheen turns out to be ah superior product. It is now all up to Bufferman to tek it from here. Ah got one problem Bufferman, ah love Calallo Soup, to be honest ah ain’t like de taste ah de eddoe and tannia leaves, ah prefer me Dasheen bush.

IS OTTLEY HALL DEATH DEAD

Lie-Za dey shouting foh Joy not Joy Browne or Joy Cato eh, Joy foh Ottley Hall, how the Ottley Hall Death to SACE is no longer alive, it dead! SACE or whoever Italian concern we owe foh Ottley Hall, write off the Death since October last year.

Ah can’t believe this one, Lie-Za got ah way she does blow people bubble, is nothing more than she get ah scoop that the Prime Minister in the UK and he got SACE to write off the Ottley Hall Death, so she want to blow the wind out ah the man Tail oops, Sale!.. But she’s adamant, she say not only Sin Vin Sin got Death Forgive-ness, Sin Kitts who did owe SACE foh ah ole boat, since October dey got ah write-off too “sign-or-die” (that’s Lie-Za’s latin).

But how credible is Lie-Za’s scoop? If that Death was forgiven since last year October, just before Elections, why didn’t de ULP use it to their advantage in the Calm-Pain. How could Guv-ah-mint hold ah Death Forgiveness Certificate in one hand, cover it up, and in the other hand wave ah (hurry) Report from the Commissioner of the Enquiry, even though the Enquiry was not finished. That was five months ago, the DPP was supposed to study this Report and lay charges. Something Fee-she going on, we welcome any Death Forgiveness, but if what Lie-Za say is true, then “Is more in de Martah dan de pissle”!

And with that ah gone again.

One Love Bassy!

  • FacebookComments
  • ALSO IN THE NEWS
    12 left homeless in mid-day fire at Richland Park
    Front Page
    12 left homeless in mid-day fire at Richland Park
    Webmaster 
    September 5, 2025
    A fire that destroyed a multi-family complex in Richland Park over the weekend has left at least 12 people homeless, including a 23-year-old mother of...
    PM responds to US military strike on small boat off Venezuela
    Front Page
    PM responds to US military strike on small boat off Venezuela
    Webmaster 
    September 5, 2025
    Prime Minister, Dr Ralph Gonsalves has responded to reports by the United States administration that its military had carried out the bombing of a boa...
    Building material disappear from the Mary Hutchinson Primary School
    Front Page
    Building material disappear from the Mary Hutchinson Primary School
    Webmaster 
    September 5, 2025
    Police investigators on Union Island are said to be looking into the “disappearance” of building materials that were sent to the Southern Grenadine Is...
    What’s new at Fitz Hughes Government School?
    Front Page
    What’s new at Fitz Hughes Government School?
    Webmaster 
    September 5, 2025
    by Grace Francis After sharing a small space for over a year, children and teachers at the Fitz Hughes Early Childhood Centre went into brand new prem...
    MRI-6 donates over $70,000 for school meals for vulnerable students
    Front Page
    MRI-6 donates over $70,000 for school meals for vulnerable students
    Webmaster 
    September 5, 2025
    Several secondary schools and special needs institutions across St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) have received $5,000 donations towards meals for s...
    Minister of Information Technology  emphasises the importance of Cybersecurity
    News
    Minister of Information Technology emphasises the importance of Cybersecurity
    Webmaster 
    September 5, 2025
    Robust cybersecurity must be at the heart of the digital transformation that is currently taking place in St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) says Min...
    News
    Minister of Information Technology  emphasises the importance of Cybersecurity
    News
    Minister of Information Technology emphasises the importance of Cybersecurity
    Webmaster 
    September 5, 2025
    Robust cybersecurity must be at the heart of the digital transformation that is currently taking place in St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) says Min...
    Entities team up to boost disaster communication capacity
    News
    Entities team up to boost disaster communication capacity
    Webmaster 
    September 5, 2025
    The Climate Change Resilience Network (CCRN) in collaboration with the Youlou Radio Movement (YRM) recently embarked on a disaster preparedness initia...
    Ministry of Health to get more dialysis machines
    News
    Ministry of Health to get more dialysis machines
    Webmaster 
    September 5, 2025
    The Ministry of Health, Wellness and the Environment, is to obtain three more Heamodialysis machines as part of the revolution in the healthcare secto...
    PM Gonsalves heads delegation to Ethiopia
    News
    PM Gonsalves heads delegation to Ethiopia
    Webmaster 
    September 5, 2025
    Prime Minister, Dr Ralph Gonsalves, is leading a delegation to the East African country of Ethiopia; the delegation left the state on Wednesday, Septe...
    New Port to be opened on October 24- PM Gonsalves
    News
    New Port to be opened on October 24- PM Gonsalves
    Webmaster 
    September 5, 2025
    The modern port in Kingstown is expected to be handed over to the government just before this country celebrates its 46th anniversary of political ind...

    E-EDITION
    ePaper
    google_play
    app_store
    Subscribe Now
    • Interactive Media Ltd. • P.O. Box 152 • Kingstown • St. Vincent and the Grenadines • Phone: 784-456-1558 © Copyright Interactive Media Ltd.. All rights reserved.
    We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.Ok