I AM a landscaper who has contractual arrangements to do garden maintenance and to remove the debris to the recycling plant. We make an average of two trips to the landfill daily.
We carry leaves, small branches and twigs. This will now cost us $50 per day, which works out to $250 per week or $1 000 per month. If my maths is correct, that equates to $12 000 per year.
Bidding for contracts is a highly competitive exercise. Our margin of profits is small after paying wages, NIS (mine is always paid up-to-date) vacation pay, Christmas bonuses, replacement and repairs to equipment, gasoline and diesel, vehicular and liability insurance, just to mention a few.
This extra cost of approximately $12 000 per year eats away my profit margin and does not leave any room for development.
The ironic thing is that I have to pay the Government to take my waste which is shred and sold on the open market. If my waste is an input for production, then it should be bought from me.
In Barbados some businessmen can conceptualise projects and they do not have to worry about who will pay for it. Why worry? There is always the defenceless taxpayer. In a country where we talk about black enfranchisement, the notion disappears after election. I guess that the Piper has to be paid.
And the only weapon that I have is this computer where I voice my anger, and the four votes in my house . . . but election is so far away and I might forget.
– Arrindel Evelyn,
Horticultural Management Services
