From Allen Lockington
Croz, would you post this to your Blog. The source is Imagine South Pacific.
The man's wife had sent him to save the TV and he returned in a bath tub, with some bele for their dinner and a rake for his oar. Picture taken in Nadi.
Even though his home is under water, he can still smile.
-o0o-
VAT ON FLOOD DONATIONS. Two readers have asked me to ask Allen to send his article (published yesterday) about VAT on flood donations to the media. I'd suggest he also send it to the Ministry of Information and DISMAC. P.S. Allen says the article was published by the Fiji Times yesterday. He had a comment, which I now can't find, on why VAT was imposed.Some people were taking advantage of being able to import goods without VAT so Government changed the law to tax everyone. Seems pretty clumsy to me. And not a good reason at all. VAT should be lifted on all donations and if people are misusing this concession, they should be detected and punished. "Punishing" everyone means fewer genuine donations.
7 comments:
Bula Croz, the Fiji Times printed it yesterday....
The payment of VAT on donations which are intended to be FOC to the recipients is idiocy made manifest. It also reeks of a 'grabfest' by panickers who know nothing of economics. Each donor to Fiji (and I know of one distraught person in the USA who has been collecting and giving for seventeen years) are repelled and mystified by behaviour so inimical to the interest of the poor and helpless in a Disaster of the Elements compounded by our own stupidity (too little dredging, too little professional and able Met Forecasting and Analysis, too little routine information on the Half Hour which is reassuring: during the night most radio stations were broadcasting Party Music). We need to immediately Grow Up!
Ask the Roman Catholic Church to front up with the VAT. They can afford it. Or, better still, remove it forthwith and let some sanity and common sense into our lives. Donors are potential investors. They are being scared away now in battalions.
I LOVE it! Just a wonderful photo which says all about the Fiji spirit and smile. Goes to show you - hubby knows best - a TV can't full your hungry tummy!
Nothing like stealing photos of struggling photographers. Well done, made your site look good through - all you had to do was copy somebody else's work.
@ Anonymous... Look again. The source was clearly shown. If you cannot be more accurate and polite in your personal accusation, please take your comments elsewhere.
we should expect a tongue lashing from the regime about not being grateful enoguh for all they have done to address flood mitigation, and supplying emergency training and equipment.. after all they have only have had more than five years and it is not as if this happens regularly. But we can be assured by the regime and their PR guy Croz, that all is in hand, Qarase would have done worse, and they have everything they can...just short of actually doing anything that matters.
Love the picture...
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