Dear Editor,
One of the premier mottos of the Dutch is “voor wat hoort wat” (you got to give to get) . From in my Sunday school days I was taught that it is more satisfying to give than to get.
Tax Holiday is no stranger to investors on Sint Maarten, but with the same token, changing names of companies and managers also went along with the end of the holiday. In the paper of August 16, 2018, I read under the heading “Three tax holiday requests, exemptions alone do not generate investments.”
I am not in government, so if there was transparency of government one would not have to speculate from time to time on what government is doing. I have always been of the opinion that if giving is better than receiving then anyone who uses Sint Maarten to get should gladly give in return. So may I make two suggestion in which those who receive can give back.
Because of the results of these given tax holidays in the past, I will use the word entity. Whichever entity is going to enjoy a tax holiday should be made to adopt a responsibility apart from the reason for receiving that tax holiday. In this manner that old trick of changing business name and managers after the tax holiday is used, at the least the country would have gotten back something in return for the tax holiday.
Government is in the tax business so if government invests, government should get returns. For instance, maintenance of schools; assisting or paying for school supplies; maintenance of sections of a road; purchasing of sign boards and etc. This should be made known to the public because it is the people’s patrimony.
Tax holiday should be for the business not the owners , the owners should not be exempt from taxes.
The other suggestion is that if any hotel is going to receive a soft loan to erect a building that resists a category five hurricane, one of the conditions should be that that hotel be available as a temporary hurricane shelter. Ultimately that is what it was built for. Because the hurricane season falls simultaneously with the low season, occupancy should not be a problem. Beside that government routinely receives the occupancy lists from hotels, so to know how many people are in a certain hotel should not be a problem.
Actually this should be the task of the hurricane preparedness committee. All of this information should be on hand. Because we live in a hurricane belt, I believe that VROMI [Ministry of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure – Ed.] should have information on hand pertaining to which buildings or homes could be category five resistant. On the other hand VROMI could also know which homes are vulnerable. So making a contribution towards the reinforcement of such homes can also be in the tax holiday deal.
I do not think that I am being unreasonable with these suggestions, because these investors are not chance takers, they know the outcome of their venture beforehand. I also believe that where there is a will there is a way. In this case the people of Sint Maarten could should be able to see “what’s in it for them.”
By now we should know that those in leadership positions should be watchful and should not use their authority selfishly or unkindly for everyone will bear the consequences of their deeds, whether good or bad. To give is more satisfying than to receive.
Russell A. Simmons
