Members of the Parliamentary Opposition and Government have shared their views in the House during the sitting on Tuesday April 7th on the passage of the Bill with regard to the exemption of freight and insurance charges on the calculation of import duties.
Opposition Member Haydn Hughes vehemently declared that the legislation is a good thing that would bring ease to the people, but that it does not go far enough. He advocated for the exemption of freight and insurance from duties calculation to be a permanent measure instead of for just three months.
“We are not here to oppose this Bill,” he affirmed. “We are here to support this Bill, but our position remains that the Government of Anguilla can and should do more.”
“When the time for the vote comes, there will be all ‘Is’ and one will not hear any ‘Nays’. We all support this Bill, but we believe it should be permanent. To say that we don’t know what is going to happen next week, when there is a predictable US President, is not enough.”
Mr. Hughes spent a considerable amount of time making his contribution to the Bill. He declared that as a spinoff from the war in Iran, where several tourist attractions had been disseminated, Anguilla is now poised to continue to attract even more tourists than ever before.
“When I look at the tourism figures that are produced by the Statistics Department,” Mr. Hughes said, “I see record numbers month after month, and those numbers will continue to grow. Year on year, stats show record numbers. And if you couple the record levels of revenue that is being generated from the hospitality sector through the General Services Tax, coupled with record levels on revenues derived from .AI, it means that the Government of Anguilla can do more…
“Our position remains that the Government of Anguilla can do more,” he said. “We believe this Bill should be permanent,” implying that the adjustment on customs calculations should not be for the three-month duration only.
But the Hon. Minister of Trade and Economic Development Kyle Hodge said that three months gives the Government ample time to assess the situation. And he reported that local businesses welcome the relief measure.
“Since the announcement of this reduction in duty charges, I have seen merchants excited in anticipation of the relief. Importers have been sending messages to their suppliers instructing them to load up the containers for Anguilla now.”
He noted that this type of excitement would cause Government to ponder whether this is the kind of breakthrough the businesses would need. “But,” he said, “It is left to be determined. It is left to be analyzed as we go forward over the next three months.”
He observed that the next three months could be a very interesting period as importers increase the volume of their imports. “But,” he said, “it is my hope that as the merchants increase the volume of their imports that they get a better purchasing rate.”
Minister Hodge encouraged residents to support local businesses in these times of uncertainty instead of taking a boat and supporting businesses in the [duty-free] neighbouring island next door.
“We ask our merchants to price their goods responsibly,” he implored. “We also ask our locals to support our local businesses more. We have to look at the consequences of our actions. This thing about jumping on a boat to support another economy is counterproductive,” he hinted. “We must look about stretching our dollar at home.”
