By Venus Honore-Gopie Friday, September 25 2009

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Tax BURN: Chaguanas Deputy Mayor Orlando Nagessar (third from left) looks at the burning coffin with homeowners of Felicity to protest Government's pr...

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Felicity residents set on fire a makeshift coffin as a symbolic gesture to get Government to scrap the property tax. Close to 100 homeowners marched through the district’s streets chanting “No to property tax” as they headed to the Lakhan Kariah cremation site to burn the coffin with the words “Property tax” written on it.

Imam Iqbal Hydal, secretary of the organising committee, Felicity Association for Community Enterprise, told homeowners before the march that he had calculated his property tax which will rise by 1,500 percent and if the rental to his property was assessed it will increase by 3,000 percent.

Hydal said many property owners will have to put up their homes for sale and therefore the only way to protect their right to own property was to protest against the increase.

He said while the march was intended also to sensitise the people of Felicity about the increase of the tax, they are hoping other communities throughout the country protest the dangers of the tax once it is enforced.

Chaguanas Deputy Mayor Orlando Nagessar said the people of Felicity are very hurt about the tax and said there were still grey areas on how it was being calculated.

Although the group was thankful to the Acting Commissioner of Police James Philbert for permission to march, Nagessar said they were not allowed to use any public address system. Many residents stood at their windows and verandahs waving and shouting, indicating their support for the march.

Nagessar said people have been trying their best to make ends meet despite the economic situation and felt the tax was going to be another burden.

He said they are trying to mobilise areas in Chaguanas and Central before they move to Port-of-Spain to protest against the tax.

President of the association Ramnarace Dowtal called on Finance Minister Karen Nunez- Tesheira to review the tax.