learning a mistake was made in the Budget which would have sent the price of aluminium windows rocketing.

The Finance Minister had hiked the duty on aluminium doors and windows from 11.25 to 22.25 percent, leaving one seller "aghast''.

Building material sellers -- also slapped with duty increases on lumber and plumbing fixtures in the new Budget -- were calculating how to absorb the hike. But an apologetic Finance Minister admitted the "honest'' blunder yesterday, saying it had been brought to his attention by the Chamber of Commerce.

The Hon. David Saul assured it would be rectified with an amendment on the floor of the House of Assembly next week.

"I was aghast and amazed that such an increase could be considered,'' Treecon Limited owner Mr. David Rowntree said. "I immediately called Customs to get their reading, and then the Chamber of Commerce.'' Another supplier of the popular, durable aluminium doors and windows said the hike would have been unfair because "no one buys the wooden ones anymore.'' Miss Sacha Baptiste of Baptiste Builders Supply was already calculating the cost of a shipment expected in next week.

Mr. Rod Ferguson of Gorham's said his customers might have faced paying $50-$100 more for aluminium doors and windows.

"We can't subsidise the price totally,'' he said.

The duty on the products should, in fact, have been dropped, Dr. Saul said.

But they were placed in the wrong category in a new classification system for building materials.

They used to be placed in the "aluminium, vinyl and wooden doors and windows'' category. But in the new format, which categorises building materials by what they are made of, the products were placed under "miscellaneous aluminium''.

Dr. Saul said the Budget would be amended to include the old category heading.

And the duty for the products would be brought in line with the reduced ten percent duty on wooden doors and windows, which were at 11.25 percent.

Dr. Saul blamed the mistake on a "computer glitch'' and said he "wouldn't be surprised'' if there were more slip-ups.

"It's a complex (Budget). There were hundreds of items and it was all spat out by computer,'' he said.

Mr. Rowntree said: "The entire industry and homeowners I would think should appreciate that it was a mistake.'' Mr. Ferguson said other building material tariff increases suppliers faced included a 22.25 percent duty on wooden moulding, while general lumber had gone up from 3.5 percent to five percent.

He said he was disappointed the 22.5 percent duty on plywood, popular for making roofs, had not been reduced.

Suppliers had lobbied for about a ten percent reduction, he noted. He was not overly concerned about the increases, because on the other hand, the duty on ready-mix cement and other products, such as wooden windows, had been dropped.

Mr. Ferguson said he was more concerned about the one percent increase in hospital levy which employers were required to partially absorb.

Miss Baptiste was not happy about the three percent duty increase on plumbing fixtures such as sinks and toilets.

The tariff had gone up from 19.5 to 22.25 percent, she noted. And it would be a significant increase to absorb.