KINGSTON, Jamaica — Jamaica mobilized it’s police and put the army on alert bracing for violence over it’s new tax increases which will effect gas, cigarettes and many consumer items.
Nine people were killed during riots that broke out when a gasoline tax increase was announced in April 1999.
Prime Minister Bruce Golding said the nation needed to brace for tougher times because the nation could not continue to barrow to fill budget shortfalls.
Smokers will now pay just over 36 per cent more for a pack of cigarettes, according to Carreras Limited, the primary marketer and distributor of cigarettes and tobacco products in Jamaica.
revenue from the increase in the tax on gas is expected to plug a vast section of an $18-billion hole in the national Budget.
Finance Minister Audley Shaw said in Parliament yesterday that $13.3 billion is to be collected from the $8.75 tax that has been imposed on each litre of gas.
Reuters Article
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