Email

Print

Indeed as flights, and arrivals are cut back to the bare minimum - government is prepared to suspend collection of hotel and other taxes, but with the bottom line going to zero, that may not amount to much:

Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow - Prime Minister 

"We're already agreed, I think leader correct me if I'm wrong that the 9% tax would not be collected by the BTB or that only half of it would be collected which causes some to say but half of nothing is nothing. The way arrivals are plummeting there will soon be no hotel tax to collect but in the meantime certainly to the extent that the hoteliers are still, still have some degree of occupancy and collect the tax they will either be able to keep half or if Ms. Bevans, it will right back to the government she has marketing contract that she has to service but it may well be that the agreement is that they not pay the tax at all not even a portion to the BTB for the foreseeable future until we can start recovering."

Hon. Johnny Briceno - Leader of the Opposition Â Ã‚ 

"For instance the airlines, local airlines as it is when I spoke to both of the companies yesterday they have already lost about 50% of the business and so they are also crying out from the riders fee, what do you call it, the riders fee and all the other taxes that are expected from them. To see what kind of relief we can give them while this whole thing is stabilized and hopefully we get out of it as quickly as we possibly can."