FLOW seeks tax breaks to speed up hurricane recovery

Telecommunications firm FLOW wants the Government to provide tax breaks for the importation of critical equipment needed to accelerate the restoration of services following the devastation to its network caused by hurricane Melissa.

The proposal is among a suite of legislative fixes FLOW executives pitched to lawmakers when they appeared before a committee of Parliament on Tuesday to provide an update on the restoration work.

Other proposals include an expedited approval process for building and other permits as well as “emergency legislation” that would provide harsher punishment for persons who vandalise its network.

The proposed tax break would include the importation of bucket trucks, and other “technical vehicles”, which are essential for tower repairs, fibre restoration, and “faster national recovery”, according to a document FLOW submitted to the Infrastructure and Physical Development Committee of Parliament.

However, opposition Member of Parliament (MP) Dennis Gordon, while not opposed to the tax breaks, sought answers on how they would benefit customers.

“I hear you asking for waivers and legislative policies to enhance your business. In business, investment redound to profit, and so by increasing your market share, it also increase your bottom line,” Gordon reasoned.

“All these waivers that you are proposing, I would love to know how they benefit the end users, the consumers,” the St Andrew East Central MP questioned.

In his response, Charles Douglas, head of legal and regulatory affairs at FLOW, insisted that the proposals were “not frivolous asks” and said the benefits to consumers were “obvious”.

Noting that technology will have to play a critical role in helping to jump-start the economy after the Category 5 hurricane, Douglas said, “We don’t have 12 months, two years, 18 months to do this.”

“So our partnership with the Government and our investment is to expedite the recovery of those areas ... . The farms won’t come back overnight, the crops in the bread basket [parishes] won’t come back overnight. So enabling people’s ability to be creative, innovative, and work is critical,” he reasoned.

“So they are considered asks to partner with the Government to get where we need to go. So how that redounds to the consumer is obvious; it’s obvious,” said Douglas, making reference to the legislative fixes that were proposed.

But Gordon was not satisfied with the response, noting that lawmakers have to take into account those citizens who are most vulnerable.

“How do we protect them? So it’s not a frivolous ask either from this side,” the first-term MP countered.

“What we are saying is that the consumer, over time, usually carry that burden because the investment has to be recovered,” he added.

Gordon again pressed FLOW executives to disclose how consumers are considered, if at all, during the billing process when the telecoms firm is doing its “balancing act as it relates to your capital outlay and your service providers”.

Stephen Price, president and general manager of FLOW Jamaica, in his response, noted that it is “very costly” to replace essential equipment and bring in the work crews that are help with the restoration work.

Further, Price said FLOW’s commitment is to ensure that it advances the technology in Jamaica to the next level.

He said it is recognised that the mix of technologies now being used to deliver services has to be more climate resilient.

“We would like to be able to make those investments, but at the pricing that we get those things for, plus duties and taxes, you are not able to go at the speed you would be able to go up to the outlay of capital that you do have,” Price explained.

“So it’s assistance in that area so that we will be able to bring those technologies to the consumer, enable faster restoration for them so that they are able to get back to their regular day-to-day activities.”

Approximately 62 per cent of fixed customers have been reconnected, the telecommunications firm disclosed.

livern.barrett@gleanerjm.com