Minister for Commerce Emma Hippolyte has issued a firm rebuttal to criticisms raised by United Workers’ Party (UWP) candidate for Babonneau, Titus Preville, over the government’s recent efforts to ease the cost of living through zero-rating of essential goods.
Speaking at a pre-cabinet press briefing this week, Minister Hippolyte challenged Preville’s credibility, pointing to his past leadership of the same ministry he now criticises.
“He was the technical head of the Ministry of Commerce for all this time. And he did not present one policy statement to the government that was not implemented. What head is he now going to put to bring new suggestions?” said Minister Hippolyte.
Preville, a former permanent secretary in the Ministry of Commerce, was officially launched on Sunday as the UWP’s candidate for Babonneau. In his address to supporters, he accused the current Saint Lucia Labour Party (SLP) administration of misleading the public on its recent zero-rating policy.
Said Preville: “Of the 70 items that they have zero-rated... 25 of those items were already VAT exempt. You want to talk about obfuscation? You want to talk about underhanded and double-dealing?”
But Hippolyte pushed back against those assertions, emphasising the transparency of the government’s announcement and clarifying the distinction between VAT-exempt and zero-rated items.
“There were certain items that were VAT exempt, and we were bringing [them in] in order to control rising prices. We had sat down with stakeholders, with the Ministry of Commerce, with the members of the Chamber of Commerce… and arrived at a list of items that we wanted to be zero-rated.”
The Minister further explained the technical difference. “If an item is VAT exempt, there is no VAT on the item for the consumer. However, the business person cannot claim the VAT associated with the sale of that item,” she said. “When an item is zero-rated, the consumer does not pay VAT either, but the business can claim the expenditure associated with that sale. That savings can then be passed on to the consumer.”
Highlighting the broader scope of her ministry’s efforts, Hippolyte contrasted its present-day performance with Preville’s tenure.
“Look at where the Ministry of Commerce was yesterday and where it is today, a vast difference,” she noted.
“Not only in price control items and what we are doing now in terms of containing high prices, but when you look at our MSME program, our Love St. Lucia program… that’s a ministry that has moved way beyond where Mr. Preville was.”