Government will be tightening an existing policy to allow Barbadians to purchase generators free of VAT and import duties due to an abuse of the process by some persons.
Minister in the Ministry of Finance, Economic Affairs and Investment, Ryan Straughn made the disclosure yesterday during a post Cabinet press conference at the Barbados Water Authority Headquarters, the Pine, St. Michael.
He was accompanied by Minister of Home Affairs and Information, Wilfred Abrahams and Minister of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs, Kirk Humphrey.
Minister Straughn told reporters that officials have observed “a number of anomalies” where some Barbadians have taken advantage of the process.
He stressed that changes to the policy would see the waiver applied to generators that provide five to 25 kilowatts of power to households and those seeking a system greater than 25 kilowatts, can apply to the Ministry of Finance to benefit from the waiver.
Additionally, Mr. Straughn said that the Customs and Excise Department will be working with importers and suppliers to ensure that generators are available in the range specified.
He also stated that due diligence checks will be made to ensure that the generators will be installed at the homes based on the information provided by the homeowner.
“And therefore we’ve had to put a few measures in place to ensure that households, who legitimately want to have access to generators, can continue to have the access under the policy that’s been articulated…” The Minister underlined.
He further stated: “Therefore, there’s a specific process in place to have that verification done. So, homeowners will be required as part of the process…to attest that this generator, [with] this serial number is to be installed at your property.
“I don’t think anybody in Barbados would, have any specific fault with that as we track the process through… We have just done the census and there were questions on the questionnaire about the type of power generation that people would have. So, therefore as we move forward, we will be able to track and see how the country is prepared and we would know the type of independent generating capacity that we have within the island,” Mr. Straughn pointed out.
Stressing that the cost of unpreparedness for natural disasters was significant, The Minister said government was committed to implementing mitigation strategies to assist householders to be prepared and reduce the burden on the state after the disaster strikes.