Food for thought on incentives to better our health facilities

There are talks among businesses and stakeholders in the country to introduce new tax incentives for businesses to support a worthy cause.

We know that these discussions may elevate to formal submissions to Government, and we’re told that the business sector has already alluded this to the powers that be.

If we rewind to the 2018-2019 National Budget, the Bainimarama-led Government introduced new tax incentives that were widely lauded by businesses.

At the time, the aim of the incentives was to encourage and support investments and activities in targeted areas.

How companies fared on their bottom line while taking advantage of these incentives is yet to be known. But what we do know is that developing nations, like Fiji, adopt different types of tax incentives to promote specific economic goals, a paper by the United Nations outlined.

One notable tax incentive introduced in that fiscal year was on promoting the upgrade and modernisation of buildings for capital investments above $1 million (excluding interior furnishings, furniture and fittings). As a result, many building owners in the Capital painted theirs, invested in maintaining the buildings abiding by OHS regulations, and notably the Ratu Sukuna House lit up at night looking more welcoming than its old self.

Another incentive was the 150 per cent tax deduction that will be provided for cash contributions above $10,000 by corporate sponsors towards the hosting of the 52nd Asian Development Bank annual meeting in May 2019.

ADB’s premier gathering of decision-makers from 67 ADB member countries coming from Asia and the Pacific, Europe, and North America, saw Nadi, the ‘Jetset Town’ being a hive of activity.

Not only did the hoteliers and workers benefit but the meeting caused a ripple effect on retailers, vendors and transport services. In one way or the other, money was exchanged for goods and services. Overall, it boosted the economy.

In the same vein, suppose a tax incentive was introduced for businesses to improve our public health sector. Take for instance the much-talked-about neglected state of the Colonial War Memorial (CWM) Hospital. In February, the media was given a tour of the support facilities and we saw first-hand the uncensored and never-seen-before images of parts of the deteriorating state of the biggest public health facility in the Pacific Island nations.

Floors and ceilings caving in, windows missing, others cracked, doors and walls in need of a fresh coat of paint, the Catering Services Unit in dire need or maintenance and more.

We know that companies like ANZ Pacific and McDonald’s Fiji commit annually to improving our CWM Hospital and other public health facilities in the country. But more can be done.

Suppose a pool of business houses were to collectively invest its funds, be it through corporate social responsibility or other means, like ANZ Pacific and McDonald’s Fiji?

Then more can be done to respond to the call of the dire need to improve our health sector.

The onus is on the employer, in this case, for Government to deliver a safe and decent working environment for our health workers to perform and provide better services. Let’s be honest here, when people work in an environment that is OHS compliant, clean and fresh, they deliver better services.

And better services are what we want in our health sector. Those who cannot afford treatment at private hospitals deserve to know that their food is being cooked in an OHS-compliant catering unit.

They deserve to walk into a clean and OHS-compliant bathrooms and toilets, to have privacy, to walk along the corridors of the wards without fearing that walls will cave in.

Government cannot do it alone. It can’t be developed overnight but an ongoing, holistic approach and wide consultations must be done to see that health services and facilities are delivering their optimal best.