ChicaRocky23
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(Not SRHR, but still a youth representation piece.. I think I'm just ranting thought... but...)
So in an earlier blog I wrote, I was ranting about the government's response to a group of young people who tried to make some suggestions to the government, but who they wouldn't listen to. Now, 8 months later, the same taxation issue has come up, and the same group of young people are, once again, trying to get the government to listen to them...
The story is that the government has decided to (again) raise tax, to 17.5%! What one writer calls a devastating tax plan. Not only to raise it, but to leave off basic food necesities off the tax exemption list. Which means rice, flour and sugar are all taxed. And, get this females... Sanitary napkins and tampons are taxed too... 17.5%... Not even the disabled are spared, Prime Minister Bruce Golding last week announced that canes for the blind, artificial limbs, hearing aids and crutches designed for use by the handicapped are some of the items that would no longer be exempted from taxation.
When I saw the news tonight, i felt dejavu... the youth are saying they need to see the tax plan revoked, or altered for the better before its implementation date of January 1, 2010. Their slogan is "It Must Be Reversed Before The First". And I agree.... It needs to be.. what will poor people do? Already barely can afford food, and they raising the price. And the rich people not having a problem..
Now, the Prime Minister says he has "heard the peoples' cry" as reported in the Jamaica observer and Gleaner and he says
According to Ricardo Thomas, "Is he saying that he was not aware of the suffering this package would cause? Is his government so out of touch with the poor and working class ppl it represents? Those statements suggest to me that our leaders are out of touch with the plight of majority of Jamaicans. I wonder what ethical approach our leader took.....Definitely not the utilitarian approach...not Kant's approach...I would love to enlightened""I have heard the cry and the appeal of the Jamaican people." "It is my intention to re-examine the existing composition of the tax package in order to determine if there are suitable alternatives to finding the $21-...billion of revenue required to support the programme negotiated with the IMF, while at the same time reducing the harsh impact on the society, especially the poor and vulnerable, during these very difficult times."
The youth have strategies to raise over 8 Billion dollars WITHOUT raising taxes.. and its not the first time they're trying to make a proposition like that! Why won't they just listen to us? Would save us a lot of stress and headache....
And, to bring a bit of local jamaica views to this blog, a letter to the newspaper by a citizen about what's been happening in the country, that really makes you wonder what's going on, and pray for the day that our generation gets the chance to really change the world.. As amplify/afy says, every generation has a chance to change the world. its our turn (soon).
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