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Plan to reduce GCT on electricity not an election ploy, says Finance Minister

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Finance Minister Fayval Williams
By Kimone Witter/Clinton McGregor    
 
Finance Minister Fayval Williams is rubbishing claims that the prime minister's announcement to reduce the General Consumption Tax on electricity bills is a vote-buying scheme.
 
During Wednesday morning's post Cabinet media briefing, Minister Williams said the initiative was first discussed when she was state minister in the Finance Ministry back in 2018. 
 
"I can say without fear of contradiction that this particular initiative was one on which I worked during my first round at the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service, and when I got back there and realised where it was, I had to pick it up again and so here we are. So this has nothing to do with elections. It's a project that was started then, many years ago, and it's one that's even more worthy now to get executed and we are doing that," she insisted.    
 
The People's National Party has criticised the initiative as having minimal impact on the lives of the majority of Jamaica Public Service customers, while economist Dr. Damien King has argued that it is a bad policy move.
 
But Minister Williams said with the addition of more renewables as well as a national campaign to promote prepaid service for electricity usage, the cost of electricity could be reduced even further.
 
"I asked the electric company that if we were able to wave a magic wand and have this all happen tomorrow, what would our electricity bills looks like. And together with all these initiatives, not just the GCT but also the significant rollout of the prepaid and the reduction that that would cause in theft of electricity, anywhere from 25 to 30 per cent is what they were saying, overtime. So that is a big, big savings that we should work towards," she said.
 
The Finance Minister insisted that low income earners, business operators and landlords will benefit from the JPS prepaid initiative to be rolled out next year.
 
Prime Minister Andrew Holness announced the national roll out of the initiative at the Jamaica Labour Party's annual conference on the weekend.
 
At Wednesday's press briefing, Minister Williams urged JPS consumers to take up the offer for prepaid meters when it becomes available. 
 
"Jamaicans with prepaid service can buy however much electricity they need - $100, $500, $1000 - and as often as they need to. So they can better match their income pattern with their affordability. And the prepaid service will be available to everyone - uptown, downtown, country people, town people, landlords who have tenants. And I understand that one of the biggest headaches for landlords are sometimes people who vacate the property and leave a high bill. They can better control that now. People who do Airbnb, they can convert to prepaid and they don't have to fret when that Airbnb person leaves," she outlined.    
   
 


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