Latest news with #taxcollection
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Haiti wants to hire private firm to collect border taxes. Not everyone is on board
Haiti's transitional government is brokering a deal to take control of its porous border with the Dominican Republic, which has become a gateway for illegal weapons, by giving a private firm control of security and tax collection. A Haitian government official aware of the discussions confirmed to the Miami Herald that negotiations are ongoing for border control and debt collection by restructuring customs and PoliFRONT, the specialized Haitian border police unit charged with securing the 243-mile borders with the Dominican Republic, the country's biggest trade partner. 'No contract has been signed,' said the official, disputing a Reuters story that quoted private security executive and Donald Trump supporter Erik Prince that he has signed a long-term agreement with the Haitian government. As part of the 10-year agreement, according to the story, Prince's company, Vectus Global, would design and carry out a program to tax goods imported across the border, which currently help funnel between $60 million to $70 million to gangs that control key transport routes. The source, who was not authorized to speak publicly, said he has not seen Vectus Global's name. However, another source said there are several companies, including Prince's, that are vying for the border contract. A spokesman for Vectus Global told the Herald the company has 'a year-long program to help the government defeat the gangs and a longer-term role advising the government on how to restore revenue collection capabilities once the situation stabilizes. We want to help the Haitians increase their capacity to defeat these terrorist groups, get their country back, and then reinstate essential services which have been missing for the past few years.' In addition to consulting on security issues, the firm provides a range of services, the company notes, adding that a task force operating out of the prime minister's office that is leading the response to gangs is using advice from Vectus. But some observers see a border contract as a throwback to a bygone colonial era. Others see it as a money grab in which the country is being mortgaged in the name of fighting criminal gangs. 'This is scandalous,' said Samuel Madistin, a leading human rights lawyer and former presidential candidate. 'The government that is here is provisional, corrupt and it represents the most mafia segment of the private sector. They do not have the legitimacy to engage the country in a long-term 10-year contract with a private firm in a plan of collecting taxes to reinforce security when they have never taken any forceful steps to reinforce the army, the national police to fight against gangs.' Haitian Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé did not respond to a request for comment. The former head of the transitional council, Fritz Alphonse Jean, said the Reuters article was the first he was hearing of any such arrangement. Laurent Saint-Cyr, who took over the reins of the presidential council last week, said he was ''not aware of the signing of such a contract.' The revelations about Prince's firm taking control of the only reliable revenue stream for the government comes on the heels of concerns over the influence the private sector exerts over the government, as members of the business community now control both the presidency of the council and the prime minister's office. Prince's entry and the Kenya mission On Wednesday, the U.S. State Department confirmed plans to support a proposal from United Nations chief António Guterres to back the efforts of the armed international mission that's been struggling to control the gang violence. However, observers worry that Prince's entrance into the fray will complicate support for the Kenya-led mission because of his team's use of weaponized drones to target Haitian gangs. There are also concerns that the presence of mercenaries in the gang fight could dissuade future efforts to scale up the current mission into a full-fledged U.N.-authorized peacekeeping force. 'While it is understandable that the Haitian government feels the needs to respond to an extreme situation with whatever alternatives are on the table, relying on a [private military contractor] for a long term plan -- particularly when the details are not being shared publicly- will certainly alarm Haitian and international observers because of the history of lack of accountability from this kind of operations,' said Diego Da Rin, Haiti analyst for the International Crisis Group. Da Rin said with funding for the Kenyan mission already uncertain, Haitian leaders might be betting that Prince will provide the support needed to at least gain some ground against the gangs. Controversial figure The founder of the controversial military security firm Blackwater, Prince arrived in Haiti earlier this year promising to help the country put down the with the help of former special forces soldiers and military contractors from the United States, Colombia and other nations. Haitian authorities have declined to provide details on the contract, which for one year carried a $50 million price tag, according to another government official. In addition to providing personnel, the arrangement called for the firm to provide helicopters and weaponized drones. So far, in the eight months that drones have been hitting areas of the capital, no major gang leaders have been captured or killed, although Haitian police have claimed that some gang members have died. The slaughter of Haitians and the destruction of private property by armed groups have not ceased. People familiar with Prince's arrival say he was introduced in Haiti by Reuven Bigio, the CEO of the GB Group, a firm founded by Gilbert Bigio, an uber rich Haitian businessman who was sanctioned by Canada in 2022 along with other prominent members of the economic elite. Among the companies' assets is the private Lafito port in Port-au-Prince, where private military are used to provide security. In pitching his services, Prince discussed wresting control of gangs to allow major highways to reopen. HIs services would be paid for through a revenue scheme in which his firm reportedly would get a percentage of the increase in collections. Not a new idea The plan to secure the border with an outside firm to increase customs revenue is not a novel idea. It was first raised by Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's Haiti Advisory Board in 2005 but quickly nixed after considerable pushback. Then Haitian Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe introduced it during the administration of President Michel Martelly, using an Israeli firm. Shortly after coming to power, President Jovenel Moïse broke the contract, which had already invested $10 million. Mark Hall, an American investment banker who worked in the Dominican Republic, has also tried to get support for a similar effort that involves installing 50 to 60 high tech surveillance towers along the border. It was expected to cost $134 million. Hall, like other proponents of the idea, argued that it is a win for Haiti, which loses an estimated $500 million annually from contraband and the lack of control at its borders. The U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime has repeatedly raised concerns over the illicit trafficking of firearms and narcotics across the country's porous border, particularly in the southern departments of Haiti. In mid-April, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights voiced similar concerns, noting that a lack of border controls have helped facilitate the smuggling of firearms into the country. 'Poor provision of security at borders and an influx of small arms and light weapons into Haiti has facilitated a resurgence' in violence in recent years, the security firm Osprey said in a recent analysis. 'Large, relatively unpoliced areas of Haiti are also vulnerable to security and criminal threats due to instability and porous borders.' Solve the daily Crossword
Al Jazeera
5 days ago
- Business
- Al Jazeera
Blackwater founder Erik Prince to send forces to Haiti to fight gangs
A private security company run by Blackwater founder Erik Prince will send hundreds of fighters to violence-racked Haiti to combat the country's gang violence problem and restore its tax collection system, according to United States media reports. Prince, a controversial figure who is a major donor to Donald Trump, revealed details of the new mission for his company, Vectus Global, in an interview with the Reuters news agency on Thursday. A person with knowledge of the plans also confirmed details to The Associated Press news agency. Prince told Reuters that he expected Vectus Global, his US-based private security firm, which provides logistics, infrastructure and defence, would regain control of gang-held roads and territory in Haiti within about a year. 'One key measure of success for me will be when you can drive from Port-au-Prince to Cap-Haitien in a thin-skinned vehicle and not be stopped by gangs,' he told the news agency. He said the company would also be involved in creating and implementing a system to tax products crossing Haiti's border with the Dominican Republic once security was restored. 'Several hundred' personnel For years, Haiti has been plagued by violence and insecurity as powerful armed gangs, often with ties to political and business leaders, have vied for influence and territorial control – a situation that worsened dramatically after the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moise. The deployment of a United Nations-backed, Kenya-led police mission last year has failed to restore stability. Earlier this month, the government announced a three-month state of emergency in several parts of the country in response to the crisis. Vectus Global began its operations in Haiti in March, Reuters reported, mostly through the use of drones in coordination with a government task force. But it was set to significantly increase its activities in the coming weeks in coordination with Haitian police, Reuters reported, citing a person familiar with the matter. The source said the company would deploy 'several hundred' personnel from the US, Europe and El Salvador who were trained as snipers and intelligence and communications specialists, along with boats and helicopters. The AP, citing a person with knowledge of the plans, said the deployment would entail 'nearly 200' personnel as part of a one-year deal to tackle gang violence. It said Vectus Global would also take a 'long-term role' in advising Haiti's government on restoring tax revenue collection once the gang violence was addressed. Prince told Reuters that Vectus Global had a 10-year contract with the Haitian government, but would not comment on how much it was worth. The Haitian government has not commented on the reports, but in June, the then-leader of Haiti's transitional presidential council, Fritz Alphonse Jean, confirmed that the government was using foreign contractors. The Haitian government has identified restoring tax revenue as a key factor in tackling the country's problems. Taxation at the border used to account for half of the country's tax revenue, but gang control of transport links has hurt trade and badly affected vital government revenue streams, impacting the delivery of basic services, a report commissioned last year by Haiti's government and international organisations found. Blackwater's track record of abuses The involvement in Haiti of Prince, a former US Navy Seal who is the brother of former US Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, has prompted concerns, especially given the controversial past of his previous company, Blackwater. Prince founded Blackwater, a private military company, in 1997. The company gained global notoriety for its actions in Iraq, with four employees convicted over the September 2007 killings of 14 Iraqi citizens in Baghdad's Nisour Square. The contractors were later pardoned by Trump during his first term in the White House. Prince sold Blackwater in 2010, but has remained active in the private security industry. Since Trump's return to the White House, he has consulted with Ecuador on how to combat gang violence, and reached a deal with the Democratic Republic of the Congo to help secure and tax mineral wealth. 'Resorting to private military companies cannot be seen as a solution to insecurity in Haiti,' Gedeon Jean, head of Haiti's Center for Human Rights Analysis and Research, told AP. 'The use of private companies has often resulted in human rights violations.' Romain Le Cour Grandmaison, head of the Haiti programme at Geneva-based Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime, told AP that Vectus Global's mission in Haiti would violate US law unless it had permission from Washington to proceed. He said its involvement was more likely to complicate the crisis in Haiti than fix it. 'In the absence of a coherent, jointly led Haitian and international strategy, the use of private firms is more likely to fragment authority and sovereignty than to advance resolution of the crisis,' he said. A Trump administration official said the US government had no involvement with the hiring of Vectus Global by the Haitian government, and was not funding or exercising any oversight of the mission, the AP reported. Earlier this year, a team from US security firm Studebaker Defense ceased its operations in Haiti after two personnel were abducted, likely due to corrupt police officials, The New York Times reported.
Reuters
5 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
Exclusive: Trump ally Erik Prince plans to keep personnel in Haiti for 10 years to fight gangs and collect taxes
Aug 14 (Reuters) - The prominent Donald Trump supporter and private security executive Erik Prince says he has a 10-year deal with Haiti to fight the country's criminal gangs, and then take a role in restoring the country's tax-collection system. In an interview with Reuters, Prince said his company, Vectus Global, would be involved in designing and implementing a program to tax goods imported across Haiti's border with the Dominican Republic once the security situation is stabilized. He said he expected to wrestle control of major roads and territories from the gangs in about a year. 'One key measure of success for me will be when you can drive from Port-au-Prince to Cap Haitian in a thin-skinned vehicle and not be stopped by gangs,' Prince said in the interview. Prince would not comment about how much the Haitian government would pay Vectus Global, nor how much tax he expects to collect in Haiti. The new president of the transitional council, Laurent Saint-Cyr, who was inaugurated on August 7 as part of a planned rotation of council leaders, did not respond to requests for comment. Haiti's former council president and prime minister also did not respond to requests for comment. Vectus began operating in Haiti in March, deploying mainly drones in coordination with a task force led by the prime minister, but the long-term engagement and the involvement in tax collection have not been previously reported. A person familiar with the company's operations in Haiti told Reuters that Vectus would intensify its fight against the criminal gangs that control large swathes of Haiti in the coming weeks in coordination with the Haitian police, deploying several hundred fighters from the United States, Europe and El Salvador who are trained as snipers and specialists in intelligence and communications, as well as helicopters and boats. Vectus's force includes some French and Creole speakers, the person said. Prince, a former U.S. Navy Seal, founded the Blackwater military security firm in 1997. He sold the company in 2010 after Blackwater employees were convicted of unlawfully killing 14 unarmed civilians while escorting a U.S. embassy convoy in Baghdad's Nisour Square. The men were pardoned by Trump during his first term in the White House. Since Trump's return to the White House, Prince has advised Ecuador on how to fight criminal gangs and struck a deal with the Democratic Republic of Congo to help secure and tax its mineral wealth. 'It's hard to imagine them operating without the consent of the Trump administration,' said Romain Le Cour Grandmaison, head of the Haiti program at Geneva-based Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime. When asked for comment about Le Cour Grandmaison's assertion, a State Department spokesperson said it has not hired Prince or his company for any work in Haiti. A senior White House official said: "The U.S. government has no involvement with the private military contractor hired by the Haitian government. We are not funding this contract or exercising any oversight.' It's unclear whether Prince's contract would be affected by the change of leadership in Haiti earlier this month. In an August 7 televised address, Saint-Cyr said he welcomed more international support to fight the gangs. 'I am inviting all the international partners to increase their support, send more soldiers, provide more training," he said. "Help us with a more robust international force.' The crisis in Haiti has worsened in recent years, as armed gangs gained territory and attacked hospitals, police stations and prisons, taking control of strategic transport routes and extorting funds from the population. Rights groups accuse the gangs of massacres, rapes, kidnappings and arson. About half the population is food-insecure and over 8,000 people in displacement camps face famine-level hunger. Haiti used to collect half of its tax revenue at the border with the Dominican Republic, but gang control of key transport routes has crippled trade and cut off state income, a report commissioned last year by Haiti's government and several multilateral organizations found. This has undermined the government's ability to respond to the crisis or deliver basic services, the report said. The Dominican Republic is a key source of grains, flour, milk, water and other food staples for Haiti, according to customs data. Haiti also relies on imports from the Dominican Republic for textiles, consumer goods, and medical supplies. Security contractors working in Haiti have faced challenges operating in a country with entrenched links between the gangs, local police and some factions of the government. Earlier this year, a team from American security firm Studebaker Defense abandoned their mission in Haiti after two of their members were abducted, likely due to corrupt police officials, the New York Times reported. Mounir Mahmalat, who serves as a country coordinator of the World Bank's Fragility, Conflict and Violence Group, said that it was virtually impossible to ensure the safe transport of goods or the security of people working in Port-au-Prince. Other security firms working in Haiti have raised questions about how Vectus would hold onto cleared gang territory as well as the wisdom of channelling resources to private security firms instead of the country's own security forces. "Resorting to private military companies cannot be seen as a solution to insecurity in Haiti,' said Gedeon Jean, head of Haiti's Center for Human Rights Analysis and Research. 'The use of private companies has often resulted in human rights violations.' While a private force could help police restore security, Jean warned against large spending on a foreign company while Haiti's own security forces lack funds and equipment.
Reuters
6 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
Exclusive: Trump ally Erik Prince plans to keep forces in Haiti for 10 years to fight gangs and collect taxes
August 14 (Reuters) - The prominent Donald Trump supporter and private security executive Erik Prince says he plans to keep his forces in Haiti for 10 years under an arrangement that will eventually give his firm a role in the country's tax-collection system. In an interview with Reuters, Prince said his company, Vectus Global, had reached a 10-year agreement with the Haitian government to fight the country's criminal gangs and set up a tax collection system. After the security situation is stabilized, the firm would be involved in designing and implementing a program to tax goods imported across Haiti's border with the Dominican Republic, he said. He said he expected to wrestle control of major roads and territories from the gangs in about a year. 'One key measure of success for me will be when you can drive from Port-au-Prince to Cap Haitian in a thin-skinned vehicle and not be stopped by gangs,' Prince said in the interview. Prince would not comment about how much the Haitian government would pay Vectus Global, nor how much tax he expects to collect in Haiti. The new president of the transitional council, Laurent Saint-Cyr, who was inaugurated on August 7 as part of a planned rotation of council leaders, did not respond to requests for comment. Haiti's former council president and prime minister also did not respond to requests for comment. Vectus began operating in Haiti in March, deploying mainly drones in coordination with a task force led by the prime minister, but the long-term engagement and the involvement in tax collection have not been previously reported. A person familiar with the company's operations in Haiti told Reuters that Vectus would intensify its fight against the criminal gangs that control large swathes of Haiti in the coming weeks, deploying several hundred fighters from the United States, Europe and El Salvador who are trained as snipers and specialists in intelligence and communications, as well as helicopters and boats. Prince, a former U.S. Navy Seal, founded the Blackwater military security firm in 1997. He sold the company in 2010 after Blackwater employees were convicted of unlawfully killing 14 unarmed civilians while escorting a U.S. embassy convoy in Baghdad's Nisour Square. The men were pardoned by Trump during his first term in the White House. Since Trump's return to the White House, Prince has advised Ecuador on how to fight criminal gangs and struck a deal with the Democratic Republic of Congo to help secure and tax its mineral wealth. 'It's hard to imagine them operating without the consent of the Trump administration,' said Romain Le Cour Grandmaison, head of the Haiti program at Geneva-based Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime. When asked for comment about Le Cour Grandmaison's assertion, a State Department spokesperson said it has not hired Prince or his company for any work in Haiti. A senior White House official said: "The U.S. government has no involvement with the private military contractor hired by the Haitian government. We are not funding this contract or exercising any oversight.' It's unclear whether Prince's contract would be affected by the change of leadership in Haiti earlier this month. In an August 7 televised address, Saint-Cyr said he welcomed more international support to fight the gangs. 'I am inviting all the international partners to increase their support, send more soldiers, provide more training," he said. "Help us with a more robust international force.' The crisis in Haiti has worsened in recent years, as armed gangs gained territory and attacked hospitals, police stations and prisons, taking control of strategic transport routes and extorting funds from the population. Rights groups accuse the gangs of massacres, rapes, kidnappings and arson. About half the population is food-insecure and over 8,000 people in displacement camps face famine-level hunger. Haiti used to collect half of its tax revenue at the border with the Dominican Republic, but gang control of key transport routes has crippled trade and cut off state income, a report commissioned last year by Haiti's government and several multilateral organizations found. This has undermined the government's ability to respond to the crisis or deliver basic services, the report said. The Dominican Republic is a key source of grains, flour, milk, water and other food staples for Haiti, according to customs data. Haiti also relies on imports from the Dominican Republic for textiles, consumer goods, and medical supplies. Security contractors working in Haiti have faced challenges operating in a country with entrenched links between the gangs, local police and some factions of the government. Earlier this year, a team from American security firm Studebaker Defense abandoned their mission in Haiti after two of their members were abducted, likely due to corrupt police officials, the New York Times reported. Mounir Mahmalat, who serves as a country coordinator of the World Bank's Fragility, Conflict and Violence Group, said that it was virtually impossible to ensure the safe transport of goods or the security of people working in Port-au-Prince. Other security firms working in Haiti have raised questions about how Vectus would hold onto cleared gang territory as well as the wisdom of channelling resources to private security firms instead of the country's own security forces. "Resorting to private military companies cannot be seen as a solution to insecurity in Haiti,' said Gedeon Jean, head of Haiti's Center for Human Rights Analysis and Research. 'The use of private companies has often resulted in human rights violations.' While a private force could help police restore security, Jean warned against large spending on a foreign company while Haiti's own security forces lack funds and equipment.
Arab News
05-08-2025
- Business
- Arab News
Pakistan PM rules out revision to tax collection target, reaffirms reform timeline
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday ruled out any revision to the tax collection target and reaffirmed the reform timeline would remain unchanged, highlighting his administration's commitment to improving revenue performance and implementing structural changes across the tax system. The government has set an ambitious tax collection target of Rs14,131 billion ($49.46 billion) for the fiscal year 2025-26 (FY26), reflecting a nine-percent increase over last year's goal. Despite aggressive fiscal measures in recent years, Pakistan has missed its revenue targets, including in the previous fiscal year (FY25), where a 1.5-percent gap emerged between projected and actual collections. 'No changes will be made to the approved timeline for tax collection and reform targets for the upcoming fiscal year,' the prime minister said during a review meeting on tax reforms at the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), according to an official statement issued by his office. 'A strategy should be developed through consultation between the FBR, relevant federal institutions and the provinces to increase the tax-to-GDP ratio,' he continued. Sharif also highlighted the importance of enforcing already imposed taxes efficiently to help meet the targets and directed that obstacles to reform, including bureaucratic red tape, be removed to ensure the changes are institutionalized. According to a briefing given to the prime minister, the government has made its online income tax return form available in Urdu for the first time, a measure that is expected to benefit nearly 84 percent of current filers. The FBR also said it had met its July revenue collection target, the first month of the ongoing fiscal year, and expressed confidence in achieving future monthly goals. Sharif called for greater public awareness of FBR reforms and instructed coordination with the information ministry to build public confidence. He also emphasized the use of technology and digitization to modernize customs clearance, reduce delays and improve transparency. 'The effective and uniform implementation of revolutionary customs clearance reforms must be ensured across the country,' he said, calling for centralized digital enforcement stations and faceless customs systems to speed up assessments.
