Dear Editor,
Two news items caught my attention recently. One, the generous donation of lumber by the Government of Guyana to hurricane ravaged Caricom member states. I am sure my fellow citizens will agree that this gesture was fitting, coming from a lumber producing country.
The other news item was the move by the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) to demolish a number of homes and businesses in Sophia, Greater Georgetown, which were deemed illegal. The images of the demolition crew in action and the reaction of the occupants was most heart-rending. These poor people will now have to seek to rebuild their homes, on government issued house lots. And this is indeed the right approach. The CH&PA has since announced a deadline of January 2018, for all squatters to remove from the Government reserves in Sophia. Then there are the squatters in the Ruimveldt and La Penitence areas, who are to be relocated.
A surge in housing construction is anticipated in the coming months by the relocated squatters. The Minister with responsibility for housing has cautioned against the construction of shacks and shantytowns. She has rightly called for improvements in building standards.
Editor, my principal concern here is the application of 14 per cent Value Added Tax (VAT) on lumber by the Administration. Housing is a basic need of humans. We all, no matter our social or economic status, deserve proper and safe housing for our families – a place to call home. We now have a situation where lumber, the preferred choice of building material by the poor, is being taxed. Should not the authorities be promoting the use of lumber in home construction, given that we are a lumber producing country?
To charge VAT on lumber, which pushes prices upward, is likened to penalising citizens for its use. This policy is not in the best interest of the grass roots and working class people of our country, and indeed all Guyanese. The ongoing housing drive by Government has the potential to stimulate economic growth with purchases of lumber and other building materials, furnishings, transportation, and employment. Our Guyanese home owners, current and new, deserve the support of the Government as they seek to create homes and a safe place for their families. To charge this tax on lumber sends the wrong message.
I therefore respectfully call on the relevant authorities, in this budget season, to withdraw the 14 per cent VAT on lumber, and bring some relief to the many ‘squatters’ and other Guyanese home builders. No one will donate lumber to them.
Respectfully,
A Bacchus
