EDITORIAL - Gangs of Gordon House party to expropriation of property

As the Golding administration, particularly Finance Minister Mr Audley Shaw, prepares to explain to the country the details of the Government's 2011-2012 Budget, we wish to draw to their attention a section of the Charter of Rights recently passed by the Jamaican Parliament to replace Chapter Three of the Constitution.

It is Section 12 (1), which states:

"No property of any description shall be compulsorily taken possession of and no interest in or right over property of any description shall be compulsorily acquired, except by or under the provision of a law that -

(a) prescribes the principle on which the manner in which compensation therefor is to be determined; and

(b) secures to any person claiming an interest or right over such property a right to access to the court for the purpose of -

(i) establishing such interest or right (if any);

(ii) determining the compensation (if any) to which he is entitled; and

(iii) enforcing his right to any such compensation."

We have taken the trouble to quote extensively from this charter because we believe that the Jamaican Government - comprising the gangs of Gordon House that have alternated in the management of the country's affairs for more than half a century - is guilty of expropriating the property of taxpayers, to wit, interest owned by savers.

Under legislation passed in the 1980s, individuals or corporations which earn interest on bank balances or other forms of savings are charged income tax at a rate of 25 per cent. That tax is withheld by the institutions paying the interest and remitted to the tax authorities.

The problem is that people at retirement age, as well as pension funds, are exempt from the tax. So, they are entitled to reimbursements from the tax authorities.

The Government, however, plays fast and loose with people's property, of which they are denied lawful and constitutional enjoyment. Put bluntly, Section 15 of the Charter of Rights is being made a mockery of, even before the ink on it dries.

both gangs guilty

As we said, this is not a recent occurrence. For instance, in 2007, prior to the general election, the former finance minister, Omar Davies, claiming a need to attend to a fiscal deficit, called a halt to a reimbursement of J$7 billion owed to pension funds.

His successor, Mr Shaw, in 2008 pledged to clear the arrears and to remain current. That has not happened.

Instead, up to the first quarter of 2010, International Monetary Fund data on Jamaica suggested the Government's overall reimbursement liabilities were above J$20 billion. The finance ministry, however, which has declined to confirm the extent of debt, or provide a breakdown thereof, told this newspaper last December that it was constrained by the Revenue Administration Act from providing such information.

Poppycock!

In the meantime, the Government holds on to the expropriated property without legal basis for so doing, and without promise or offer of compensation.

That, of course, is counter to the situation of when it is owed taxes by citizens. In such circumstances, taxpayers are charged penalty interest on the outstanding debt, and penalty on the penalty so long as the debt remains unpaid.

Where is the natural justice in that, including for the thousands of pensioners who are being denied enjoyment of their property?

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