Ramadhar says reform must take place first

He said Government should also fully effect campaign and party and finance reform and local government reform legislation.

Addressing a large gathering on Tuesday evening at the St Augustine South Community Centre, Ramadhar said the property tax law is bad and some people will not be able to meet the May 22 deadline to submit forms for valuation.

“The first person who is charged, I will defend them together with my team,” Ramadhar said.

On his call to fully implement procurement legislation, he said, “We have a long history of corruption in government, where taxpayers dollars have been stolen in the past and I am almost certain being stolen in the present. Unless we fix things, they will continue to be stolen.” The People’s Partnership government, he said, insisted on procurement legislation and this Government must introduce it.

On party and campaign financing, he said, hundreds of millions of dollars are spent on elections.

“When a Government gets into power they have to pay the piper.

Unless we fix that, the people of Trinidad and Tobago will continue to pay back the financiers.” He said the last government had begun draft legislation but the current administration is still to deal with the issue.

Local government reform, he said, was necessary to ensure that property tax was paid to local government organs to meet the needs of communities, and must not go into the Consolidated Fund as is currently prescribed.

Agreeing that taxes are payable to a government, Ramadhar said people do not agree that their homes should be made uncomfortable due to taxation.

Noting that some were saying that they will not paint their houses because the uglier it looks, the less tax they will have to pay, he said, “We cannot allow this nation to become a slum.”