Transport services resume, Friday
By ANDREW FANASIA
PUBLIC transport services will resume today after the strike action by the Honiara Transport Service Association (HTSA) was terminated, yesterday afternoon.
Inland Revenue Division (IRD) and HTSA have finally reached an understanding after the two parties held a dialogue yesterday afternoon at the multi-purpose hall.
It was established between the two parties yesterday that the IRD will revise the Income Tax chargeable to Taxis and buses respectively.
This means the taxis will pay an annual income tax of SBD$1,500 instead of the proposed SBD$7,000 and the buses will pay SBD$3,900 instead of SBD$10,000.
This is good news for the general public who have felt the wrath of the strike action and mostly the students sitting their exam yesterday morning were badly affected.
The strike action which was staged yesterday was in response to the newly imposed tax increase by the Inland Revenue Division (IRD) within the Ministry of Finance & treasury, on all taxis and buses operating in the country.
They (HTSA) argued that the amount of SBD$7,000 for a single taxi per year to pay compared to what most of them afford for their survival is far too much.
They also claimed that there was no wider consultation leading up to that tax increase.
However, the IRD Commissioner and HTSA have come up with an amicable solution yesterday and the transport service will be back to normal today.
