Oliver Joseph Grenada Trade Minister
Grenada, CMC – The Grenada government is contemplating introducing an EC$25 (One EC dollar=US$0.37 cents) levy to deal with the importation and dispose of used tyres on the island.
Trade, Economic Development and Planning Minister, Oliver Joseph, speaking at the weekly Cabinet news conference Tuesday, said that every year thousands of used tyres are imported into the country.
“When it is to be discarded somebody has to clean it up,” he said noting that in some instances when the tyres are being burnt, people are unable to deal with the smoke “and that’s not the best way to dispose of tyres”.
He said when the tyres are left in the open, they become breeding grounds for mosquitoes and “this is a real health problem.
“Everyone recognizes the need to deal with it. All the importers are saying yes they are prepared to pay because they bring in all those used tyres and just disposed off anyhow and it becomes a problem…it is a costly exercise,” he said.
He told reporters that the new levy would be used to help meet the costs of discarding the tyres and that talks have been held with the various stakeholders in that regard.
He said during the meeting, the importers recognized the need to clean up the environment and were willing to contribute to that.
“They don’t mind a charge on the used tyres, what they were concerned about is the amount, the 25 dollars, everyone in the meeting made a recommendation of some figure…that was very encouraging having recognized that they need to contribute to the cleaning up of the environment.
“So what the Ministry of Finance will do now is to take into consideration all the views of the tyre importers and then make a recommendation to Cabinet for its consideration…so you will see a movement on the 25 dollars charged now on used tyres,” he added.
