SW has huge potential in revenue generation – Finance Minister

The Minister of Finance, Alamine Ousmane May says the South West region has enormous business potential to generate revenue for the country.

He made this declaration in Limbe recently while inaugurating the Medium Size Taxpayers’ Office, MTO, in Bota.

During the inauguration, Minister Ousmane Mey said it was one of the areas in the country that can immensely contribute to the taxation department in its realisation of the targeted FCFA 1,400 billion in taxes for the government treasury this year.

He said government, in the new reforms, has played its role in modernising the working environment in order to step up the morale of workers and the new structure was one of such initiatives.

“We hope that the taxpayers will find this place a very great and satisfactory environment and that the tax officials will help them to really comply with their obligation of paying taxes,” Ousmane Mey stated.

He told the personnel of the centre with Madam Brigitte Kubri as head, to use the modern structure well to be more productive and professional in collecting revenue for the State.

Welcoming the Minister on behalf of the population of Limbe, the Government Delegate to the Limbe City Council, Motanga Andrew Monjimba, said Ousmane Mey instituted many reforms after taking over the Ministry of Finance and that the problem of inappropriate allocation of taxes is systematically being solved.

Motanga added that he expects that 2015 will witness perfect allocation of tax forms to local collectivities.

Landmark Achievement While he stated that the inauguration of the Medium Size Taxpayers’ Office in Limbe was another landmark achievement in implementing President Biya’s vision, Motanga added that the building was in strict compliances of construction initiative.

Thanking the Minister for the structure, the Government Delegate averred that for Limbe to maintain its fame and history, there is the need for more of such structures to facilitate tax collection.

Motanga prayed that the motive of the office should be a driving force for its activities to realise the desired results.

‘Visit Was God-Sent’ The Limbe Government Delegate continued that the visit of the minister was God-sent as it presented the opportunity for him to transmit the financial situation the Limbe City Council finds itself in.

Motanga lamented the fact that for the past three years no franc from the taxes paid by the National Refining Company, SONARA, which is based in Limbe, has been received in the host City Council. He said he was sure that SONARA has been paying such taxes regularly but “the difficulty was getting the money from Yaounde to Limbe.

In response to this, Minster Ousmane Mey promised to follow up the matter with immediacy and utmost attention.

State-Of-The-Art Building One of five new MTOs that government, in its new organisational drive to improve on the tax collection and payment, the office is equipped with state-of-the-art computers, outfitted ergonomic chairs and staffed with qualified personnel to apply the new vision of taxation in Cameroon.