APNU’s Joseph Harmon yesterday said that the statement by Minister Robeson Benn,NFL Jerseys Supply, about the 15 percent travel tax not being slashed because it is crucial to “upkeep” the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) at Timehri, is mindboggling.According to Harmon, the travel voucher is a “tax” and therefore for the minister to connect it to the operation of the airport is “an ingenious way of looking at things”.APNU’s Joseph HarmonHarmon said that a tax goes to the government. He said that the major tax on security is a $4000 which is paid at the airport. According to Harmon, if one is to look at the statement from the airport authority,NFL Jerseys Cheap, they have declared a profit two years in a row and it is expected that 2013 will be profitable. “To me it has nothing to do with the tax government claims on the tickets, but it’s the tax which is on the base fare, and all across the region Guyana’s base fare is the highest,Wholesale Nike NFL Jerseys, which is 15 percent,NFL Jerseys From China,” Harmon told Kaieteur News. He said that the only other Caribbean country that has come “a little high” is Antigua,World Cup Jerseys 2018, which has a base fare of 10 percent.Harmon further stated that those taxes include the security fees which are additional to Guyana’s 15 percent. He said that for Minister Benn to say they can’t reduce it is “crazy”.“When the minibus operators or miners cry out they would go to the government and they would reduce whatever taxes,” Harmon stressed. He said that the question of why Government can’t do the same for the travelling public is inconceivable.In a letter to the Transport Minister, Harmon,Supply Cheapest Soccer Jerseys, asked the Government to seriously consider dropping the travel voucher tax. “Having regard to the recent steep increase in the cost of airline tickets for travel to and from Guyana and the claim by Airlines that the increased fares are unavoidable; I wish to strongly recommend that the government travel voucher tax of 15% which is a component of the ticket cost, be reduced by 10 % to help cushion the impact on the Guyanese travelling public.”The Parliamentarian asked the Government to move “swiftly” on the issue. The letter was copied to Tourism Minister, Irfaan Ali.With only Caribbean Airlines Limited (CAL) operating the busy Georgetown/New York route, there have been increasing complaints by passengers of unusually high prices being paid for tickets, in recent times.
