Past Projects
- Career Mentorship: Learn about how mentors can help you along your career path (April 2022) – In partnership with Immigrant Services Calgary
- UN Women Asia Pacific Regional Consultation on the Priority Theme of the Sixty-sixth Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (February 2022)
- Webinar – Business 101 (January 2022) – in collaboration with Delano Paul and Veda Sammy
- Webinar – How to collaborate effectively at work – in partnership with Immigrant Services Calgary
- Expert Contributor at the UN Women Expert Group Meeting: Achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls in the context of climate change, environmental and disaster risk reduction policies and programmes (Affiliation with E.T. Jackson and Associates, October 2021)
- Plugging the Leak: Exploring lost revenue streams in Caribbean property ownership – Caribbean Urban Forum 2021
- Prosecuting Human Trafficking across borders Workshop (September 2021) – under the Sexual Exploitation & Trafficking Awareness Conference
- Social Media Campaign – International Women’s Day 2021
- Research and Training Consultant, Gender (Caribbean Development Bank) – in affiliation with E.T. Jackson and Associates
- Project Management – Real Estate / Construction
- Training and Coaching
Plugging the Leak: Exploring lost revenue streams in Caribbean property ownership
First presented at the Caribbean Urban Forum 2021 conference, this diaspora focused think piece explores land ownership and property trends available for nationals of Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago. It is a socio-economic analysis of land administration rules and practices, from the lens of diaspora members and key experts.
ABSTRACT
Many Caribbean countries face several challenges in creating and managing overall tax compliance, inclusive of property tax. One key challenge is the accurate and real time classification of land use (residential, commercial, or mixed) and the allocation of the appropriate tax category to promote tax compliance. Property ownership and related taxes on property are sources of revenue for governments. For this study, taxes on property are defined as immoveable property, estate, inheritance and gift taxes, stamp duties and taxes and recurrent property taxes. The application of taxes on property has the potential to create long term tax bases for immobile properties (ECLAC, 2016) and short to medium term revenue streams for free transferred property, such as inheritances. Limitations in enforcement of legislation promote limited to non-tax compliance among landowners in the Caribbean, particularly among individuals not residing in-country. This paper will explore public policy influences on land ownership and why increased investment in the form of land purchases does not equate increased revenue for governments. It will examine the relationship between movement of persons, land ownership and tax compliance in two Caribbean countries – Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago. The think piece will explore the policies that govern property and land ownership, investment initiatives that target non-nationals and nationals living abroad (diaspora) and explore benefits and challenges faced by governments due to non-resident landowners. There will also be a gendered analysis of emigration patterns and how this relates to property ownership and compliance. The analysis will include desk research on land use and emigration trends from inter alia OECD, World Bank, Facebook, and the International Labour Organisation. There will also be sampling of landowners, land managers and immigration representatives to identify linkages between land and migration patterns.
For more information, visit Blue Space Secretariat, Caribbean Network for Urban and Land Management.
Prosecuting Human Trafficking across borders Workshop
Kochi Consulting Ltd. facilitated a 1-hour workshop featuring a panel of experts in policy and legislation, immigration (national security), human rights and civil society groups to discuss human trafficking in Latin America and the Caribbean. The session was moderated by Kizzann Sammy, and panelists included:
• Dr. Jason Haynes, Deputy Dean (Graduate Studies & Research), University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Barbados. He previously served as Senior Legal Officer at the British High Commission, Barbados, where he was an international lawyer for the UK Crown Prosecution Service’s (CPS) International Division. He is an attorney-at-law and is the author of Caribbean Anti-Trafficking Law and Practice. Jason has recently been appointed as a Trafficking in Persons (TIP) International Legal Consultant for the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI) in Barbados and is the National Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery at the International Academy of Comparative.
• Ms. Alana Wheeler is the Director of the Counter-Trafficking Unit, Ministry of National Security in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. She is an International Relations graduate of the University of the West Indies Management and a Fulbright Scholar with an MA in National Security Studies from Georgetown University. She has worked in the field of National Security for 24 years, with 8 years countering human trafficking. Ms. Wheeler is also an Alumni of the US Department of State International Visitors Leadership Program. She is very passionate about making a difference and has worked with the IMF Caribbean Forum, INTERPOL, IOM, ACP-EU, OAS, Crime Stoppers International, CARICOM IMPACS, and many others.
• Ms. Kamilah Morain is a humanitarian aid/ international development professional with over 14 years of experience working in the Caribbean, Latin America, the Sahel, East, Central and West Africa. Kamilah has also worked in crises which have resulted in significant cross-border and internal displacement of vulnerable populations. She also holds a Master’s in Refugee Protection and Forced Migration Studies from the University of London. She currently works in Trinidad and Tobago with the PADF and is also a Research Associate at OBMICA, a think tank in the Dominican Republic which examines questions of migration and development in the Caribbean.
• Dr. Olivia Smith is a consultant on human trafficking with The British Institute of International and Comparative Law Institute (BIICL) and the Executive Director for the Caribbean Anti Human Trafficking Foundation. She has worked with several regional and international institutions including the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI) as Project Lead on Trafficking in Persons (Barbados). She holds a PhD in Political Science and an MBA. She is a Past Fellow of the University of Oxford in forced migration and is a 2021 O’Brien Fellow in Residence at the Faculty of Law, McGill University, Canada.
Social Media Campaign – International Women’s Day 2021
This social media campaign was initiated as a two-person research and visibility project to increase awareness of women leaders excelling in the fields of STEM, Arts, Environment, Human Rights and Politics. The campaign featured 30 women from 26 countries, including Indigenous semi-autonomous communities. The campaign ran on 5 social media platforms and resulted in over 10,000 impressions / views and 120 engagements after one week.
Project Management – Real Estate / Construction
Project planning, assessments, procurement, vendor management, marketing, and bookkeeping in Trinidad and Tobago
Research and Training Consultant, Gender
Sub-contract under E.T. Jackson and Associates, this role included the creation of Gender Equality Policy and Action Plans (GEPAPs) for development finance institutions in Belize, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago. The consultancy also included the drafting and launch of a GEPAP technical guide and Best Practices paper.
Training and Coaching
Business Writing, branding, customer service and leadership training for micro, small and medium enterprises.
Past Clients / Partners
- MDB Consultation
- College of Science, Technology and Applied Arts of Trinidad and Tobago
- Ministry of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs, Trinidad and Tobago
- Caribbean Development Bank
- E.T. Jackson & Associates
- Global Affairs Canada
- Inter-American Development Bank
- Caribbean Network Urban and Land Management
- University of the West Indies
