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Jacqueline Willoughby - NTUCB
"Well generally what we did was actually call on government to say if you're going to have austerity measures, let everybody be onboard. So that we have to look at how we diversify agriculture, how we put in policies for procurement, how we do better tax enforcement rather than just introducing new tax laws, how do we enforce what we have, how we bring the informal sector into the formal sector, how we increase our exports - stop bringing things that we already have here and encourage our people to have subsistence farming and that kind of thing."

Daniel Ortiz, 7News
"Ma'am, are your membership like the rest of the public, very concern that taxes have to be increase and no matter what sort of austerity measures we take, there is only so much you can do and you have to increase income in order to cover what the fiscal deficits are."

Jacqueline Willoughby - NTUCB
"That almost sounds like double-barrel question, but while I agree with you that we have to increase income, we have to raise the revenue. I'm not sure that I will totally agree with you that we must increase tax. But of course I am sure it's a discussion on the table. Albeit, the response we received today is, it is something that's being looked at, but it's not something that have actually been decided."

"And in the meantime we do have the tax reform committee going on. So when and if government decides that this is the route, we will know."

Eldred Neal, President, Public Service Union
"We realize the cost we are paying in taxes presently and we are really trying to look at parity in finding a way in which we can definitely broaden the base, small the threshold, have individuals who have been granted breaks come back in. We're talking about re-introducing income tax to businesses, to look at the kind of markup they make versus the kind of investment they put in. That helps you to track the amount of taxes."

"Other areas we are looking at is understanding public service, because I think the head table spoke at length about having us appeal to public officers to understanding that you are rendering a service and whilst we are service oriented, too often we do not capture the kind of audience or we are not given the kind of service at times to the public as we should."

"We spoke about becoming a bit more innovated, finding ways in which we can help to boost the economy by creating ease on people we serve once they come in for service. That kind of reception has to be every day and not some days. All public officers aren't guilty of it, but some definitely has to be every day and not some days."

"We look at a number of different areas in which we believe the government has been affording the burden, in terms of paying out payments. We spoke to that, because there is lack of understanding at least hereafter that we want the general public to come to understand, because when one invests, one only could invest with the intent to have some kind of profit and too often we, from where we sit, we don't necessarily see that dynamic, but we defiantly understand it well and I think we have to find a way to better help the country to understand that investment and especially foreign investment does come in with the intent for profit and where the government has to bear the burden to engage them and give them the kind of breaks and in fact ensure that whatever breaks are given, it balances out on the eventual in terms of the kind of costs and taxes they pay. That's about it for me."

Daniel Ortiz, 7News
"Sir, are your members concern that this dreaded increase in tax is on its way. The ball is rolling and you can't stop it."

Eldred Neal, President, Public Service Union
"Whilst we understand that there is going to be an increase on tax, I think we have to and we might not be able to stop it, but we definitely intend to work along the line to ensure that the folks that are exempted and the amount of tax releases and breaks that are out there, we can now better become policemen in the system and if we become a bit more vigilant in the way we do our work, we will be able to ensure that there is no more lack in collecting where we can, because at the end of the day it comes down to public officers."

Daniel Ortiz, 7News
"A criticism that often comes forward when it comes to public expenditure is, a simple example would be "the use of government gas." and the way how public officers use vehicles, there is always that concern that these officers are abusing their access to these vehicles and you take up the gas bill."

Eldred Neal, President, Public Service Union
"Well I've ask as the president and I've encourage the idea that if you see a government vehicle out there being ran over the weekend, take note of the license plates, take a picture. We all have cellphones. We are available online. Let's start doing that, because often we see public officers' children driving about these vehicles. But I want to go a bit further, with all the memos and all the efforts that has been made in terms of cost savings, we really want to start talking about some of the heads of department and we want to take it up further to may be the CEOs and the ministers, because it's not necessarily the little public officers who will take those risks and for those who choose to do so, I am encouraging and I am appealing to the public, take a picture, send me it alright and we are going to address the matter, to see if they have the right to be in that vehicle and even over the border. So those are some of the areas that are out there, because we want to save costs."