St Catherine councillors clash over motion to remove tax on gas
COUNCILLORS within the St Catherine Municipality clashed at Thursday’s meeting over their stance on a motion to remove the hedge tax on gas.
In March the councillors voted 16 to 10 in favour of the resolution calling on the Government of Jamaica to immediately remove the hedge tax, considering the high retail gas prices.
The majority of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) minority opposed.
Norman Scott, mayor of Spanish Town, stated that removing the tax will help alleviate the hardships faced by motorists.
“The removal of this tax would not be the ultimate solution to all the hardship being faced but would significantly alleviate some of the challenges being experienced by our own people,” he said.
The motion also stated that,“If the Government is not inclined to completely remove the hedge tax, that it be suspended indefinitely until the economy and the cost of living of ordinary citizens experience reasonable improvement.”
According to the meeting minutes, the motion was brought by Councillor Keisha Lewis of the Lauriston Division, and was seconded by Syndey Rose of the Treadways Division, both representatives from the People’s National Party.
However, Courtney Edwards, who is the JLP councillor for the Independence City Division, accused the chairman of misleading the council after the minutes reflected a change from procedural standards.
He said, “Based on the minutes, it stated that the motion was brought by Keisha Lewis, councillor, Lauriston Division. That was very misleading,” before exiting the meeting.
Mayor Scott then clarified that, “The motion was read by Keisha, but it was brought by me.”
He then questioned members of the JLP minority about their stance on the issue, after his attempt to bring clarity to the procedure was met with disapproval by some members of the parish council.
“I am asking if members of the JLP are against the motion requesting that the Government of Jamaica remove the tax on gas,” Mayor Scott inquired.
“We as a council do not deal with matters of that nature,” Councillor Neil Powell, JLP, Above Rocks Division, responded, sending the meeting into uproar. He paused before adding, “We cannot effectively do anything about what is taking place at the Government level — instead we should focus on local government issues.” So if we stay here and debate what has already been done in Parliament, we are wasting our time.”
Mayor Scott then repeated the question, to which Councillor Powell issued no response.
The motion has been circulated to all local authorities — including the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development as well as the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service — for support.
