An amendment to the Supplemental Petroleum Tax (SPT), a re-introduction of energy-efficiency tax credits and government support for locals trying to break into the oil market in Guyana are the top three things on the wish list of the Energy Chamber ahead of Monday’s budget.
Speaking to the Sunday Guardian yesterday, president and chief executive officer Dr Thackwray Driver said the chamber is interested in seeing some very specific measures introduced to stimulate investment.
“What we have asked for this year is a change to the SPT, because the tax as it is currently structured acts as a disincentive for investment in oil production. We think this is particularly important given the changes and focus of Petrotrin on the upstream. In order to make that successful, the Government needs to reform how the SPT operates,” Driver said.
He said the chamber also wants to see a push towards greater energy efficiency.
“We are looking for specific measures to encourage energy efficiency, because greater energy efficiency will help the country consume less gas and electricity, making more available for petrochemicals and liquefied natural gas (LNG). We want to see some measures of investing in the power generation sector to increase efficiency of power generation.”
He said although energy efficiency tax credits were introduced in the 2010-2011 budget presentation, companies have been unable to access it because of “administrative reasons.”
“We want them to introduce the administrative measures which will allow us to access that energy-efficiency tax credit which we also believe will help in small business development, energy efficiency and the construction sector for retrofitting buildings and implementing small-scale renewable energy projects.”
Driver said there is also a need for Government support by way of trade facilitation for locals who want to work in the oil sector in Guyana.
“Also for support for Government to help the export of services, we think building on the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which we signed with Guyana, we would look to the Government providing specific support to Trinidadian companies in terms of trade facilitation, so that means having people on the ground in Georgetown to help Trinidadian people access opportunities in the growing Guyana oil industry.”
He said these recommendations have been made to Finance Minister Colm Imbert and he is hopeful they will be announced tomorrow.
Meanwhile, Health Minister Terrance Deyalsingh is hoping that Imbert is as generous to the health sector as he was last year. Speaking to the Sunday Guardian yesterday, Deyalsingh said he is hopeful his ministry can continue on the path it has been for the past two years, upgrading and maintaining its facilities across the country.
In the 2017-2018 budget presentation, Deyalsingh’s ministry received a $6.02 billion allocation, the third largest share of the $50.5billion budget. Through the Public Sector Investment Programme (PSIP), Deyalsingh said a lot of infrastructure and maintenance work has taken place over the last year. He outlined several new projects that he hopes to get funding for tomorrow.
“We are pursuing a new Central Block at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital, work has begun and will continue - I don’t know what the cost is yet. Udecott has not awarded that contract yet but we have started clearing the site,” he said.
He also hopes to modernise and upgrade the Accident and Emergency (A&E) room at the PoSGH and build a cauterisation lab at the San Fernando General Hospital. At the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, he said the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) also needs an upgrade, while the St Ann’s Psychiatric Hospital needs electrical and infrastructural updates.
“I think we have proven to the Finance Minister that we can deliver our projects on time and within budget, he (Imbert) was very kind to us last year and we are hoping to see that continue.”
Public Utilities Minister Robert Le Hunte said he hopes to get funding to do infrastructure upgrades at the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) and the T&T Electricity Commission (TTEC.)
“The nature of a utility business is that if you do not put money into maintenance, then over time you will end up having to put in a lot more money, so you have to be constantly maintaining the infrastructure of a utility,” Le Hunte said.
But while Le Hunte said he has made representation to try to get the money needed for the upgrades, he understands Imbert will need to “rationalise” expenditure. He said there is a need to exercise constraint with spending and put money in the areas where the country will get the “best bang for its buck.”
Tourism Minister Randall Mitchell was more guarded in his statements, saying he will wait until the budget is read. However, he said the ministry is hitting the reset button as it tries to make tourism a profitable sector. He said this is why the Tourism Development Company (TDC) was shut down and the Tourism Trinidad Destination Management Company was formed earlier this year.