Quote Originally Posted by Bluez View Post
A lot of issues facing JA...

Just after Portia came into power, almost everything went up 30% a lot of food (rice, flour, sugar) Digicel credit, among other things. The cost of living went up 30% but the wages stayed the same and with no social programs to speak of and of course this will raise the crime rate.

Most Jamaicans don't have to file or pay taxes, which if everybody did, they could send their children to school and have social programs.

Though JPS does have solar panels available they are too expensive for most to buy. Yes, JPS is cracking down on the thieving of power, arresting and throwing abusers into jail, even having people call in with tips, but so many steal it, out of necessity to eat, it makes it crazy expensive for the average home. When JPS comes around to read the meters, if they catch you, they tell you to pay them $10,000 JA so they don't report you, then you're good for another year and the JPS guy lines his pocket.
When PM Simpson-Miller came into office, the previous government's payment to the IMF was coming due and urgent measures had to be taken immediately in order to comply with the previous IMF agreement. Since then, the government has done what it could to restructure the arrangement to make it a bit less stringent - but there is very little negotiations that can be made with the IMF. And the devaluation of the Jamaican dollar has not helped the matter at all.

All employed Jamaicans do pay taxes - they do not need to file unless there annual income is over j$500,000 - and there are few that are paid that much. Put the employer does have to deduct from their pay for the PAYE, NIS, NIH and Ed. Tax. For those interested here is a link explaining how the tax deductions are applied by all employers.

http://www.jamaicatax.gov.jm/index.p...mployersduties

And JPS meters in Negril are read monthly - no j$10,000 payoff will get you a free year of electricity. It might keep you from getting shut off that month - but that is about it...

There is no escaping JPS bills if you have a meter on it. The meter readers are required to have complete records for all the meters in their area. And they do change meter readers on a regular basis to prevent fraud. JPS figured that out a long time ago... (grin)