Finance Minister Audley Shaw.

An elected official position comes with a certain amount of responsibility, transparency and accountability. The folks who aspire to these positions should not. In a perfect world, elected officials should have to be dragged kicking and screaming into office because they dislike being tied to public service, but they really have no choice because they are patriots and really believe that they have a unique set of skills that will benefit the nation.

The perfect Cabinet appointee should have first-class, real-world skills applicable to his portfolio, and should wield power consummate to his technical and organisational skill. He has his position in government not because he wants to be there, but because his country needs him there. There should be no room for egos in politics. Megalomania in government is a dangerous thing, especially when it comes to the discharging of duties on behalf of the people.

Wrong signal

The recent acquisition of large SUVs to ferry ministers across the heartland smacks of 'I-have-arrived-ism' and sends the wrong signal to the world at large and, just as importantly, to the politician's boss, the blue-collar worker who has given so much so he can ride in opulence.

The Toyota Prado and Mitsubishi Pajero are good at what they do. They are good off-roaders, are quite comfortable and have Japanese dependability. The Toyota's 3,000 cc turbo diesel makes around 130 hp, and delivers 243 lb ft of twist. For such a big engine, the 1KZ-TE returns, on average, nearly a gallon of diesel. The Mitsubishi delivers 28 mpg and puts out 162 hp and 280+ lb ft. So, they are, believe it or not, a good choice for getting about in the boondocks to mingle with the masses, especially if voters live near Blue Mountain Peak. But for Cabinet ministers to put a conces-sion cap on what a civil servants can buy, and then behave like fat cats and order three-litre-engine SUVs for themselves is hypocritical, reprehensible behaviour. What is the justification?

The transportation sector has always been the dirty rag to which Government turns when it needs money. We are probably the only nation on Earth that has to buy one car twice before we use it. Transportation is not a bad habit or an illicit luxury or pastime. Mechanised transport, even in its most rudimentary form, is a means of spreading wealth, labour and vital services across the island. Aside from housing, a car is the most traded commodity here.

Watershed moment

Turning the keys in your own vehicle is a watershed moment. Why make it harder for people to get to that position? Folks are already buying into the draconian tax scheme. Despite all odds, it is a sector that is growing and is contributing to the Government's coffers.

Why strangle the goose? With inflation already in double digits, there will be a straw that will break the camel's back. Finance Minister Audley Shaw should learn from the past government's 2003 debacle, when then finance minister Dr Omar Davies cut the bottom out from under the luxury SUV/utility truck market when he moved the levy on these vehicles from 35 to 180 per cent in one fell swoop. He, too, thought that he could catch more dollars in his net. But the gains he expected to achieve never materialised. He is a wiser man, now.

Finally, the axe has dropped on the damaged car lacuna that allowed people on fixed incomes to finally own a decent car. From a business point of view, I can see where the new and used-car guys would lobby against this, as the 'lik an' fix' guys had an unfair advantage as they came in below governmental radar and escaped the tax axe. But they provided an invaluable service, that of mobilising that sector of society that could not heretofore afford wheels.

Import licenses

Then there wasn't much thought put into the decision to phase out an industry that is at least five years old, the result of which was that legitimate importers were refused permission to apply for import licenses after the finance minister's presentation. This meant that vehicles already paid for would be in 'no-man's land', as they could not be given vehicle-entry forms, and they could not be sent back for a refund. It was only after the situation was aired by another media house that the hard hands at the Trade Board became soft.

It seems as if a target has been painted on the collective backs of the transport sector, the sector that, according to Power 106 Auto World's talk show host André Hylton, "provides the most [collectable] revenue to Government, more than any other sector."

We are to provide $985 million more than we are providing already, and the way the tax laws have been written, it is an attack on the poorest of us. The indecent handling of the damaged-car situation smacks of afterthought, as if we were dung scraped from a boot. Does this herald a change in the vehicle policy, perhaps a throwback to the days when only the well to do could afford to drive? When cars appreciated in value instead of the opposite, regardless of age? What do you think?

Feedback: mario.james@ gleanerjm.com