ST. GEORGE’S, Grenada, CMC—The Grenada government announced a raft of measures Tuesday aimed at easing the plight of citizens still reeling from Hurricane Beryl’s passage in early July, which left a trail of death and destruction.
The Dickon Mitchell government said that it would make payments amounting to EC$11.6 million (One EC Dollar=US$0.37 cents) to farmers and fishers while also waiving the Value Added Tax (VAT), the Common External Tariff (CET) and the Customs Service Charges, among other fiscal incentives.
The northern part of the island, which encompasses Carriacou, Petite Martinique, and the parish of St Patrick, was worst affected. Still, a significant number of properties in the parishes of St John’s and St Marks were also damaged.
The new incentive measures are specifically for reconstructing physical infrastructure. Finance Minister Dennis Cornwall told the news conference that the government will waive VAT on local purchases. As part of the rehabilitation exercise, there will also be relief for persons importing foreign products.
“For those who will be importing goods and materials from other countries to rebuild, the government will waive the CET or the Common External Tariff, VAT, and the Customs Service Charge on imports,” Cornwall said.
He told reporters that while the measures would cost the government significant revenue, the plan is to ensure that only people affected will benefit from the incentives.
“Beneficiaries must have been directly affected by Hurricane Beryl,” said Cornwall, noting that all beneficiaries must comply with the building code when constructing or reconstructing a building.
“If you want to get the tax incentives, you have to ensure that you are building to the appropriate code. You need to ensure, therefore, the incentives on things like hurricane straps, using screws perhaps instead of nails on the type of wood or zinc sheets be used, and ensuring that the designs for the homes are done in a way that it is less likely to suffer damage,” said Prime Minister Mitchell.
Agriculture Minister Lennox Andrews said the ministry will provide income and livelihood support for people in Carriacou and mainland Grenada. Still, the focus will first be on farmers and fishers in Grenada.
“For income and livelihood support, in broad terms, the assistance will take the form of direct income support and material support,” said Andrews, adding that the grand total payout will be EC$11.6 million and that 960 farmers and fishers are expected to benefit.
Meanwhile, Cornwall said that the government would delay triggering the escape clause of the Fiscal Resilience Act and instead utilize the measures to assist in rebuilding Grenada without suspending the fiscal legislation.
“We did say that we would consider utilizing this measure if need be. So far, we have decided to take our time and, step by step, make sure that we do not just go out there and spend government resources but utilize the measures without having the need to do that in place.
“We have decided on the rules and suspension of targets of the Fiscal Resilience Act,” he said, adding that the Cabinet had decided this would be the correct action in the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl.
“Yes, we still have plans to look at those measures because we have access to those measures if need be,” he said, pointing out that the government has started announcing measures that will help the citizens affected by the hurricane rebuild their lives.
The government has more than EC$210 million in financial support, including EC$118 million from the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility.
Millions are also available from two emergency funds established in accordance with the Public Management Act and the Citizenship by Investment National Transformation Fund regulations, respectively.
“The so-called funds that we have received thus far, and for some people out there, it’s a lot of money; I want to caution that this lot of money syndrome will prove that we still need a lot more money than we have currently to rebuild the state,” said Cornwall.
The monthly fiscal report from the Ministry of Finance shows that as of 30 June 2024, revenue to the state has surpassed projected estimates as forecast in the 2024 Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure. The Finance Ministry projected that Grenada would earn EC$654.6 million, but the amount collected was EC$727.7 million.
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