UNC Senator hits ‘petrol tax on poor’

Opposition Senator Jennifer Jones-Kernahan said the Budget’s social programmes are being funded by poor people paying extra transport costs caused by hikes in fuel prices. She was addressing the Senate on Tuesday in debate on the Excise Duty (Petroleum Products) Order 2003.

Jones-Kernahan said: “The increase in petrol prices means increased hardships for the very poor in our society. The same morning the increase in petroleum prices was announced, the people of Laventille blocked the roads.” She said these protests were triggered by some taxi fares in Laventille increasing by up to 100 percent, with some residents having to pay a fare of $10. “Laventille tax drivers put up prices and people immediately reacted and protested.” Reading the Budget statement that extra fuel revenues of some $249 million would fund job creation, poverty eradication and projects like CEPEP, she declared: “The levy on Laventille is to fund these particular projects.”   

Jones-Kernahan quoted “Laventille Responds,” a document of the findings of a public consultation in April 2003 on local problems, which she said contrasted with the provisions of the Budget. Saying respondents rejected the URP as a solution to the area’s problems, she quoted the document: “Experience has shown that this programme has done more harm than good, destroying the work ethic of this community.” Jones-Kernahan declared: “They are not prepared to have the Government tax them, to impose programmes on them that they do not want.” She complained that CEPEP programmes in Laventille were not being run by local community groups but by middle-class people from outside the area. Saying that increased transport costs would raise food prices, Jones-Kernahan warned: “It will cause extreme hardship to all sections of society. The poorer people in the country will feel the increased costs of transport of agricultural products.” Throughout her contribution, Jones-Kernahan was interrupted by protests from the Government side and by rulings by President of the Senate Dr Linda Baboolal, challenging her relevance to the listed Bill.