JOHN WILLIAMS, president of the Barbados Private Sector Association, believes Government should carefully balance taxation with its social service provisions, including housing.
He told BARBADOS BUSINESS AUTHORITY there should be agreement on the role of Government and the community as it relates to assisting needy individuals.
“If we don’t have that cut-off point where we say ‘yes, we’re the Government but we’re not prepared to repair your house if you can repair it’, then you will try to be all [things] to everybody.
“You will never have enough money to go around and your level of taxation will go to the point where those who are industrious will say ‘well, I’m not working this hard to support largesse by the Government on a scale that makes no sense for me,’” he explained during a recent interview.
The chief executive officer of Cave Shepherd & Company Ltd said the state should limit its assistance to those who “really are unable to help themselves, rather than everybody”.
“There are a lot of people who have taken out house insurance and say, ‘but why [should] I pay this insurance if I can rely on the Government to come and take care [of me] if something befalls me?’”
Suggesting that the community and the church should take up some of the responsibility, Williams said there was also individual responsibility.
“If we’re saying the [National Housing Corporation] is there to provide housing for those who really cannot afford it otherwise, then you would kind of question how [beneficiaries] can add on two or three bedrooms or another floor within months of getting it,” Williams added. (NB)
