The pay increase and rose-tinted lenses

Oct 09, 2015 Editorial, Features / Columnists

Over the past week the new administration has been getting hit from every corner. The political opposition ensured that it used everything within its grasp to show that the new administration is not only dictatorial but also self-seeking.
For starters, the opposition did not hesitate to criticize the government for what it called a witch-hunt. In the early days of the government it was discovered that some of the people employed on contract were indeed political workers. For example, Minister of State Joseph Harmon discovered that more than twenty employees of Office of the President were there merely to make postings on social media.
He said that this was repeated at the office of the One Laptop Per Family office in Queenstown. There were people there who said that they had nothing to do. Extend the scope of the government notice beyond Georgetown and find the Community Service Officers who were employed by the previous administration to help the senior citizens in the areas in which these CDOs worked. These too were sent packing.
There were those in the public service who were sent home too. Some were sent home, ostensibly to facilitate investigations. Others went home for supervising irregularities. The political employees were routinely sent home. These were the people who claimed that they were wrongly dismissed. These people knew that they would be dismissed as soon as there was a change in Government.
The Permanent Secretaries who jumped on the political campaign train and who were later let go do not fall into the category of public servants being witch-hunted. But there were those who were perceived to be supporters and sympathisers. A man should not be targeted for his political views in a democratic country.
And so it was that there was tension in the public service. Many are still nervous and it is not to the good of the government that these people talk about expecting to be sent home. Fortunately, even permanent secretaries who were on the political campaign train are still in the government employ.
These things do not help the new government but it continues to operate in what it says is the best interest of the country. And in so doing it grants a whopping pay increase to Government Ministers and Members of Parliament. Previous Ministers might have been earning much more but the fact that these new kids on the block have given themselves a huge pay rise does not sit well with the nation.
The members of the public service have been saying that they kept asking for a meaningful pay rise and have got nothing. It is common knowledge that the police, teachers and the nurses are poorly paid. They do need a massive increase. For the Ministers to pay themselves before these people has not gone down well.
Indeed it was highly irregular for the Attorney General to earn close to three times as much as the Prime Minister. There was an anomaly because the Attorney was a lawyer who made much more money than the state could pay him. So it was that Burnham paid t he first Attorney General a super salary. Cheddi Jagan and all the others continued but there is the view that this must change; people must work regardless and Government Ministers must not end their days like paupers. It does not happen anywhere else.
But in a small country like ours to pay yourselves and not pay your followers is tantamount to disrespect for the public service. You cannot ignore the people who put you into office. So having paid yourself you must now ensure that you pay them too—the police, the teachers and he nurses especially. The budget is going to be severely taxed but then again, there will be no rampant spending on dream projects like the Amaila Hydro project and the construction of another Marriott.
And this would force the government to ensure that export earnings grow to the extent to support the pay increase that would make everyone happy. Excuses cannot suffice.

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The pay increase and rose-tinted lenses

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