|
|
Liberia: 'Account for Rice Stabilization Fund'
 |
|
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
The NEWS (Monrovia)
15 April 2008
Posted to the web 15 April 2008
C. Emmanuel Johnson
Monrovia
Amid uncontrolled increase in the price of the nation's staple food, rice, the Political Leader of Liberty Party Cllr. Charles Brumskine is demanding President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to give full account of the Rice Stabilization Fund.
The Rice Stabilization Fund was established in 1979 to support the local rice production.
He said if there is no money in the stabilization fund's account due to corruption those responsible should be brought to justice.
Addressing a news conference Monday on the state of the nation from a political opposition's perspective, Cllr. Brumskine said when President Johnson-Sirleaf headed the rice committee during the Transitional administration of Gyude Bryant, she determined that tax on rice be amounted to US$2.16.
He noted that tax on rice is highly regressive to an extent where it is posing serious difficulties for low income earners.
"The government should design the requisite mechanism to minimize the hardship which has engulfed the citizenry," Brumskine suggested.
The Liberty Party Political Leader observed that Liberians who can least afford money pay the most tax.
He recommended that government should not only suspend US$2.00 tax on a bag of rice, but should also institute a legislation to abolish all taxes on rice, except the rice stabilization tax.
Brumskine wants the rice stabilization tax to be placed in a separate account to stabilize the price of the commodity.
The Liberty Party is also requesting the Legislature to pass a bill repealing all taxation on rice.
Touching on the price of petroleum, Cllr. Brumskine said his party wants government to roll back the increase in the prices of petroleum products because the product is one of the sources of increase in the prices of other commodities.
He also called for the review and reform of the roles of Board of Directors of public corporations.
Brumskine emphasized that an enabling legal environment should be created to ensure that all corporate powers are exercised by the board.
However, Brumskine commended President Johnson-Sirleaf for the progress made in the last two years.
Cllr. Brumskine named some of those progresses as the repair works presently being carryout on the Tubman Boulevard and the Roberts Field Highway and the renovation of public buildings.
He expressed hope that the President would also prioritize the renovation of the Executive Mansion and the University of Liberia.
He also commended the government for the steps taken in the past two years to raise funds to liquidate the arrears on the country's debt to the World Bank, the IMF and the African Development Bank.
Additionally, Cllr. Brumskine called on the government to focus on Liberia's other external debts including suppliers credits, arrears owed the World Bank , IMF and the African Bank for Development (ABD).
|
He recommended that government should adopt an economic recovery plan so that if Liberia is to successfully reach the HIPC benchmark, it would raise sufficient fund from domestic sources to finance the sector whose sustained growth is essential to full compliance with any debt wavier agreement.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Copyright © 2008 The NEWS. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Make allAfrica.com your home page | RSS Feed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Top | Site Guide | Who We Are | Advertising | Search | Subscribe | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Questions or Comments? Contact us. Read our Privacy Statement. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
