Fri 11th Sep 2015

Mustique superrich - pay tax or pack your bags and go home!

The Mustique Act No 48 of 2002 reinforces and bolsters the white enclave of Mustique in a predominantly black country. This Mustique Act is an insult by the ULP regime imposed upon the indigenous people of SVG, in secret and without their consent. It is cruel, discriminatory and grossly immoral.

The Mustique Act No 48 of 2002 is financially foolish. The Act grants the white, super-rich foreigners of Mustique blanket tax and customs duty exemptions. This chokes of hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue in tax and customs duty from the SVG economy and treasury. This is totally unacceptable and bad for our economy.

The argument that Mustique is good for employment is false. It is conservatively estimated that for every $3 million in employment that is created, about $100 million of revenue is lost, because the super-rich of Mustique get blanket tax and customs duty exemptions. Let us not forget that some of the properties rented out on Mustique are priced at over EC$135,000 per week. See www.mustique-island.com.

The Mustique Act means that the white, super-rich foreigners of Mustique can buy a plane or yacht and pay no tax. They can import anything they like and pay no tax, yet Vincentians must pay tax when they turn on the light and they must pay tax when they turn on tap for water. It is blatantly discriminatory and immoral and perpetuates poverty and unemployment.

It is unfair and discriminatory that the Mustique Act allows the white, super-rich foreigners of Mustique to get away with not paying hundreds of millions of dollars in tax and customs duty, while our children go hungry, while our children live in households without mains water and electricity and while our children fail to get an education, because their family cannot afford books, uniforms and fees.

The Mustique Act creates a modern-day apartheid system in SVG, favouring the white, super-rich foreigners of Mustique over the predominately black Vincentian people. This new colonialism is bad for our country and a Green government will abolish the Mustique Act No 48 of 2002.

The Mustique Act promotes segregation. The indigenous black workers are forced to live apart from the white super-rich. Segregation is not the way forward for our country. Apartheid was overcome in South Africa. It will not be tolerated in SVG.

The white, super-rich foreigners of Mustique give away a very, tiny fraction of the money they should pay in tax and customs duty by means of their charity bowl. The charity bowl of the white, super-rich foreigners of Mustique is disgustingly patronising.

Maybe the white, super-rich foreigners of Mustique think Vincentians are too stupid to look after ourselves, so they must treat us like idiots and hand out charity. The charity bowl mentality shows that they like to look down on Vincentians and think we are inferior. Their patronising charity bowl behaviour is an outdated mentality.

The ‘purchase’ of Mustique in 1958/1959 is highly questionable. The people who ‘purchased’ Mustique in 1958/1959 sold it internally on two occasions, trying to obscure the mystery of the dubious ‘purchase’. This does not legitimise the ‘purchase’ of Mustique.

Interestingly, the Mustique Act No 48 of 2002 makes no reference of the original, dubious ‘purchase’ of Mustique in 1958/1959. The Mustique Act No 48 of 2002 is based on the last internal purchase of Mustique. It is grossly misleading.

A Green government will abolish the Mustique Act No 48 of 2002; this will bring the SVG Treasury hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue. We will use this revenue to build factories, create thousands of new jobs, create a strong economy, set up a tuna fishing and canning industry, build a science and technology university, set up a renewable energy industry to reduce electricity prices and provide free wireless internet.

Vote Green Party.