Public Works Minister Fidel Grant has announced that the discontinuation of the Highway Maintenance Levy is expected to bring relief to vehicle owners in Dominica who currently pay higher prices at the pumps.
He made the announcement during the recent sitting of Parliament.
Government introduced the Highway Maintenance Levy in 2015. During Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit’s Budget speech in 2015 he said that as the roads are rehabilitated, it is important that they are maintained so that they are always in a good condition.
In 2014-2015 an amount exceeding $13.0 million was spent on road maintenance.
“You will recall in the 2022-2023 budget address which was delivered on July 26 of 2022, the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance Honourable Roosevelt Skerrit announced that the Highway Maintenance Levy will be discontinued with effect from August 1, 2022,” Public Works Minister, Fidel Grant said. “That levy has been imposed with effect from September 2015 for the maintenance of highways.”
He continued, “Since the onset of the Russian-Ukraine War we have seen the rise in crude oil on the global market. The discontinuation of the levy is expected to bring relief to consumers who currently pay higher prices at the pumps.”
Grant added, “Therefore I seek the support of the members of this honourable house to repeal the Highway Maintenance Levy Act 67:12 of 2000 revised laws of the Commonwealth of Dominica.”
Furthermore, Grant stated that the discontinuation of the levy would result in savings of $100 for private vehicle owners and savings of $150 for commercial vehicles, truckers, dumpers, and trailers.
“In difficult times these savings can ease their financial burden and is yet another measure to limit the economic impact of these external shocks on our citizens,” he stated.
In his 2015 budget speech, the Prime Minister proposed that a highway maintenance levy be applied to all classes of vehicles. The rates were as follows:
• Commercial vehicles: $150.00 per annum
• Trucks and dumpers: $150.00 per annum
• Private vehicles: $100.00 per annum
• Motorcycles: $50.00 per annum
The Prime Minister explained that these rates were to be paid when the annual license fee is payable and had to be paid in full.
He made it clear that the rate would not be part of the license fee, and a separate marker would be provided to identify those vehicles for which the levy is paid.
The measure was reviewed after two years.
Prime Minister Skerrit further stated, at the time, that proceeds from the Highway Maintenance Levy would form part of a special purpose dedicated revenue stream, geared exclusively towards the upkeep of the island’s main highways.
You know why? Because the roads were not being maintained. WE ARE TIRED OF THE NONSENSE PATCHWORK!!!! Especially in the interior on the way to Castle Bruce. ABSOLUTE NONSENSE. Look Skerrit himself had people digging up the road all around his new mansion in Morne Daniel to put more pipe… since before Independence the road is a mess. Carnival finish now and is still nothing. And i supposed to pay road maintencne tax? and my vehicle taking blows on a daily basis in potholes that only growing bigger and bigger? Carnival come, PUBLIC WORKS PEOPLE DECIDING WHICH POTHOLE THEY FIXING AND WHICH THEY NOT. You would swear is workers and labour they choosing. The people are being squeezed dry and we get less and less on a daily basis. but thank you. because i was about to ask opposition to address the matter in parliament. how much is received in road tax and how much spent on actual maintenance. also we need better equipment. 3 men can do the job of 15 if we have the equipment.
All because of Ross University the best section of road in Dominica is Ross Blvd., so we got rid of them. Is it time to change the name?
The levy was well spent. Dominica has very good roads.
Some people in some communities may not necessarily agree with you. That work on the Antrim road is well spent? You doh seeing?
You’re right!
The attempted solution of doing the same work over and over on the Antrim section of the Imperial “Highway” is a costly exercise in futility.
I grew up in Dominica and was the first person to drive a passenger laden five ton truck from the north into roseau and up to this day I have not seen a high way in Dominica .I know what a highway looks like.Namely grand central ,cross Bronx belt parkway long island express way ,clear view
100%. It’s not a highway in any shape or form. But that’s Dominica for you, they use words incorrectly. They call ordinary roads highways, call Roseau a “city” when it’s still a town, call Dominica the nature island when there’s rubbish everywhere, and it’s not natural, it’s just majorly undeveloped & poor. They call Dominica a representative democracy, when in reality there’s a dictator. They call Dominica “climate resilient” when…well, you know the rest
All owners of vehicles already pay wheel tax. This levy hurt and depleted the already shallow pockets of the financially desperate citizens.
Is this sarcasm. lol
hahahaha….no boy allu musnt lie like that
Would you say the same about the sidewalks and roads in roseau?
So for 7 years they collected that tax and the roads still have a bunch of potholes and in a deplorable state. All they do to fix the hole is throw asphalt or cement, yes CEMENT, on the road instead of resurfacing the area and addressing the problem. A couple months and the pothole is back sometimes, bigger than ever. They have no road standards in Dominica who regulates the proper construction of those roads huh, building roads flat like a pancake when common sense will tell you build it slopping so the water runs of the road and into the drains(but wait most places do even have proper drains).
This tax and spend administration should hang it’s head in perpetual shame. Even though Dominica’s minimum wage is one of the lowest in the region, this bad news, merciless regime takes almost every cent made from the pockets of workers. This is a government of EXTRACTION.
When will public servants get an increase in wages to offset this ever swelling cost of living? How much longer will the taxpayers be burdened with the $64K monthly bill for Roosevelt and glamour queen Melissa to live in a place that we can only dream of?
This toll tax could be equated to an EMS worker demanding a severely injured victim of an accident to pay before being transported.
Ok Fidel……so now where is the money going to come from for de same activity? You didn’t say that de government would create a fund from de overly generous accumulation of CBI funds coming from it’s robust marketing strategy for selling Dominica sovereignty
De government always crying how expensive it is to maintain our roads.
My suspicion is Dat some big friends of a company with a quarry and an asphalt plant will get a no contest contract to provide road maintenance services and materials in the not to distant future……
People were actually thinking you could have been a good minister of agriculture eh…….Skerrit put you in de light even in big boy conference…….then he pull you back
You think you can shine better with a UN position than skerrit?…..maybe he think so
Fly your kite Fidel