Bill to ease returning nationals’ frustrations

Government is taking steps to ease some of the complaints and frustrations of Barbadians who lived in the diaspora with local bureaucracy when the House of Assembly meets tomorrow at 10 a.m.
Minister of Finance Chris Sinckler is to pilot a bill to validate the illegal importation of personal effects without the payment of Value Added Tax by returning nationals under the Barbados Network Programme for the past two years.
The Value Added Tax (Barbados Network Programme) (Validation) Bill will also remove some of the obstacles to qualification for some of the benefits under the programme set up by a previous Democratic Labour Party (DLP) Administration in 1991.
Some changes were made to the programme effective September 1, 2010, including the name from the “Returning Nationals Programme” that included the setting of only two criteria for qualification as a Barbados Networker: a citizen of Barbados by birth, descent, registration or naturalization; and continuous residence abroad for ten years immediately prior to resettlement. (AB)