Pressure mounts over massive pay hike for Ministers/ VPs

– but govt maintains increases will not be implemented  “at this time”

By Devina Samaroo

Amid widespread public outrage over the proposed pay hike for Government Ministers and other officials, Government on Wednesday stonewalled questions from the media about the particulars of the pay hike and while insisting that there would be no drastic or 100 per cent increase, Government refused to offer specific alternative numbers.

Government also remains mum on how soon this increase will be implemented; indicating only that it will not take place “at this present time”.

Minister of Governance Raphael Trotman, speaking during a post-Cabinet press briefing on Wednesday, noted that it was imperative that Government establish a concrete pay grade system which can differentiate the different levels of authority in Government. He ignored the possibility that a salary differential could have been achieved by moving the scales downward, in view of the stagnant economy. The expenditures could also see the various Government officials getting an attractive increase in the per diem for travel and contingencies.

“Government is of the view that there has to be differentiation between Vice Presidents, Minister and what we have termed Senior Ministers and Junior Ministers. None of these were catered for between the last 20 years. As a matter of law, there will have to be adjustments,” said Trotman, who was once the Speaker of the National Assembly.

Trotman explained that Professor Harold Lutchman, who was selected to be the Representative of the List of Candidates for the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) coalition, is now in charge of reviewing the pay structure for all public servants and this process will also capture the pay rate differentiation Government intends to establish among the high-level officials.

This entire process, Trotman anticipates, will conclude in a “few months”. “He is reviewing everything, salaries of parliamentarians, regional Councillors and salaries to public servants,” the Minister emphasised.

Last week, this newspaper broke the story that Government is actively considering a pay hike for Cabinet members and parliamentarians after only occupying Executive officer for some three months.  This revelation sparked a resounding outcry from the public.

The increase in being considered at a time when Government fired hundreds of public servants, putting them on the breadline, on the basis that it cannot afford to waste taxpayers’ monies on employees who are not doing anything of substance.

Some of those “callously” fired include 2000 Community Service Officers (CSOs) who assisted Amerindian Village Councils in its daily activities and over 50 staff who were employed under the One Laptop Per Family Project (OLFP).

Making matters worse, Government had quashed the ‘Because We Care’ Gy$10,000 cash grant initiative which benefited children in Guyana and was gladly accepted, particularly by the poorer sections of society.

Various leaders have argued that it appears as if the APNU/AFC Administration is taking money out of the hands of the ordinary people to “full their own pockets”.