PANIT2PLANET (Drumit 3)

SATURDAY 28TH NOVEMBER

1 - 6 pm

PICCADILLY GREENS, PORT OF SPAIN

Voices of the People

• Panit2Planet is a Verbal, Musical and Visual CELEBRATION of the voice of the people of Trinidad and Tobago. We speak with Pan, Rhythm Sections, Drums, Poetry, Art, Rapso and Authentic Voices from La Brea to Laventille. We sing, we speak and we will be heard.

• Panit2Planet Speaks of: attempts to impose toxic industries such as aluminium smelting on the communities of La Brea, Chatham and Union resulting in displacement and destruction of eco-systems,

• Panit2Planet Speaks of: the deplorable corruption, poverty and crime that haunts the streets and tracks of Laventille, San Juan, Arima, Chaguanas San Fernando and so many other areas.

• Panit2Planet Speaks of: the displacement of our farmers, high food prices and our utter dependence on transnational corporations for our access to food.

• Panit2Planet Speaks of: the assault by the state on workers’ rights like the right to assemble, freely associate and to be free from exploitation.

• Panit2Planet Speaks of: our youth and their lack of understanding, opportunity and hope

• Panit2Planet Speaks of: our women and their continued oppression in a male dominated social structure

• Panit2Planet Speaks of: the increasing gap between the rich and the poor. The crippling effects of the global economy that rapes the world’s resources, marginalizes its peoples and enriches transnational corporations.

• Panit2Planet Speaks of: the truth as we see it and our independent efforts and successes in organizing ourselves to address our needs.

• Panit2Planet Speaks of: the fire and the blood to claim our right to live in dignity, peace and love.

The Panit2Planet Idea is a tribute to the planet expressed in the Steel Pan and culture of the People of Trinidad and Tobago. The Pan, our national instrument, came from the use of discarded oil drums to make music. It is the waste of the international oil industry adapted to the musical needs of a vibrant people. That oil drum, which they refused, became the voice of a culture. Like the pan, the discarded and ignored members of the human family, must show the way to human happiness. The people of La Brea and Laventille have also been discarded and are determined to reclaim their voice. They are the stones that were refused by the builder. Panit2Planet is our voice, accentuated by our pan in tribute to our Planet.

Panit2Planet is the people’s reply to the second summit to be held in our country in the same year: the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) which is coming to Trinidad and Tobago at the end of November 2009. CHOGM pretends to be a collection of leaders from 59 countries who come together to improve our planet. It is really a Cabal of Heads of Government and Transnationals.

CHOGM will be bigger than the Summit of the Americas and cost millions more They claim they are coming to discuss “Partnering for a More Equitable and Sustainable Future.” The truth is that this is a partnership between:

• The Queen of England
• 59 presidents and prime ministers,
• Their agents (Non-Government Organizations)
• Their transnational corporate Bosses

These governments rule some of the world’s poorest and most exploited people and they are coming here to plan how to further rape the environment and profit from human suffering. This is yet another Summit where world leaders come to cut deals, sign contracts make plans, figure out how to maintain control of our lives and how to consolidate their power

CHOGM is led by the world’s largest companies. They have set an agenda to make profit. They will be followed by a host of non government organizations who are looking for contracts to carry out CHOGM’S decisions and implement their plans.

They come here on the invitation of the Prime Minister of the Republic. They believe, that the people of T&T have nothing to say, and no one will to speak. They believe that the voice of the people here can be suppressed, the spirit of the people controlled and the needs of the people ignored. They don’t know that the people of T&T plan to stand up and be counted. They don’t know that we come to tell CHOGM “No! Not this time! There will be no more business as usual!”

Around the world, people and their movements stand up to the summits by demonstrating in their thousands. Demonstrations at the G20, the IMF, the World Bank and the Summit of the Americas, have had profound influence on the decisions made by the ‘so called’ leaders of the world.

CHOGM is coming to Trinidad to try and avoid these massive demonstrations of human conscience. They are counting on the people of T&T, to sit still and be quiet. They come here thinking that Trinbagonians don’t know what’s going on. They think that we are ignorant, apathetic and afraid. Panit2PLanet comes to show that the youth, women, workers, business people, artists and artistes of Trinidad and Tobago can not be silenced.

Our interest and our common cause with the people of the world tell us to stand up to protect our lives, preserve our culture, defend our environment and safeguard our resources. We speak with the voices of millions around the world who say that “Enough is Enough!”

Panit2Planet is a celebration of our liberty. Panit2Planet is an expression of our capacity to organize for ourselves and mobilize in our interest. Panit2PLanet is a demonstration of our determination to think for ourselves, speak for ourselves and act for ourselves. Join us at this historic celebration of the human spirit. PANIT2PLANET(Drumit3)!

ONLY WHEN WE TAKE TO THE STREETS

No To Property Tax!

By Sylvan N. Wilson

The Government and in particular the Minister of Finance have been attempting to justify their murderous property tax by arguing that the value of properties has changed since 1948. They have astutely deciphered that properties have increased in value over the last sixty-one years.

No-one can deny that, of course, but is that all that has changed between then and now? My analysis suggests to me that so many fundamental changes have taken place in T&T since 1948 that the very concept of property taxes on residential properties needs to be revisited.


My understanding of how this government works is that most, if not all, taxes that are collected end up in the Consolidated Fund and expenditure to finance their various activities is deducted from the Fund. If that is so, then the landscape of taxation of today bears absolutely no resemblance to that of 1948.


VAT has been applied in this country for almost twenty years now. This means that every house that was built in that period and most of the services we use since then have been subjected to taxes. Which homeowner paid VAT in 1948?


Further, PAYE was introduced by the first Eric Williams regime and exceeded thirty percent at one time. Which homeowner paid income taxes back in 1948? Additionally, today we pay NIS, Health Surcharge, Road Improvement, and a bundle of other taxes that were not applicable back in 1948.


Indeed, the propertied class of 2009 is completely different to that of 1948. Back then they were in the main a tiny elite group whose bourgeois status was closely aligned to the fact that they owned property. So that the ownership of the property and its value, significantly determined their capacity to pay taxes and was also indicative of the State services they enjoyed.


Proximity to the city/town, schools, hospitals, and the availability of water, electricity, sanitation etc were critical to determining the value of the property and the taxes to be paid. To my mind PAYE has replaced that as the indicator of one’s earning power and extracts more and more as earnings increase. Today, thousands of ordinary working class people own their own homes.


The value of properties today is determined by many other factors including security, proximity to industrial estates, traffic congestion, etc. Let us take Tobago for instance, hundreds of foreigners have determined that they want to make the beautiful island their home and they are prepared to pay millions of TT$ for it. Does it mean that the ordinary Tobagonian must be penalized by exorbitant taxes as a result?


What does it matter to the homeowner whether someone is prepared to pay $1.00 or $1million per month to rent a house in their community? Should law abiding citizens pay more taxes because drug money is being laundered? A home really provides the constitutionally guaranteed social benefit of shelter; any increase in value of the property is an unrealized gain that is of no benefit to the homeowner except when sold and then the tax net will deal with that.


The real issue here has less to do with “modernizing” property taxes and more to do with the fact that the “money done”. Our mono-crop economy can no longer provide the Government with income streams to take care of their insatiable thirst to spend on show pieces for the pleasure of the Emperor. It is ludicrous for the Government to claim that they NOW want to diversify the economy when the “money done”.

Where are the hundreds of foreign business people who were sitting on piles of money just waiting to see if T&T could successfully host the Summit of the Americas? Can the Minister of Energy cite our hosting of that conference and the Commonwealth Heads as the incentive for the oil and gas companies to invest in T&T and not have to provide cash incentives from our already depleted income?


The most fundamental period that we need to focus on as a country is from the mid-seventies and before to now. Back then Citizens of the country understood and utilized the power of PROTEST. We marched in our tens of thousands on the basis of our support or rejection of issues. Partisan considerations took second place.


How can we as a people not protest about Government’s impotence to deal with crime? How can we allow the sordid revelations that have surfaced about UdeCott to be lost in the convoluted maze of procedures? How can T&TEC and Petrotrin be allowed to spend more than double the original estimates on projects they undertook? How can we stay quiet and have the Emperor spend BILLIONS on hosting ego inflating conferences and then squeeze out the last pennies from retirees’ pensions and call it property taxes?

It is only when we take to the streets in our tens of thousands will there be any serious consideration for proper and accountable government in this country.