Increasing salaries is not the answer!

Oct 14, 2015 Editorial

It does not take a rocket scientist to discover that the government has erred for giving a large increase in salary to ministers at a time when the economy is sputtering. Neither does it take a rocket scientist to know that the timing was wrong and that the government has just handed the PPP more ammunition to shoot back at it.
The issue has become an explosive topic in almost every household both at home and in the diaspora. The fact that some ministers are insensitive, arrogant, and aloof and are not grounded with the masses does not bode well for the government.
In fact, this is the perception which the government should debunk.
That the government is naïve and that many of its supporters are upset and disappointed, is to state the obvious. They want to know what could have influenced a large increase in salary for ministers and parliamentarians.
Many who have supported this government are expressing their disapproval and are saddened and worried about their future. Some are silently protesting in tears and are wondering if they voted for change or an exchange.
The people are aware that the Ministers should be rewarded for the sacrifices they have made and for the changes they have brought about, but they felt that it was too early for them to have such huge increases in salaries. Many are disenchanted because there is no justification for it especially when they have just given the workers a smaller increase in salaries.
The increases should have been incremental and this would have been seen in good light by the masses. It may or may not haunt the government forever.
But it is pointless for the people to fret because some ministers believed that they were entitled to the salary increase and that there will be no rolling back. Many have claimed that they have joined the government to become poorer but they did so of their own free will. They should know that they are the servants of the people.
Some have said that it is all about power, prestige and entitlement. It should be made clear that no one is against an increase in salaries for the ministers but it should not have been shrouded in such secrecy. Could Guyana’s donkey cart economy afford such lavish salaries at this time? Lest we forget, these were the remarks by some when they were in opposition.
However, the government must be lauded for its courage for sticking to its plan to recover the alleged stolen public assets by the previous administration and for the outstanding work by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Carl Greenidge to quell the fears of Guyanese on the border crisis. But it does not negate the fact that additional policy measures are needed to be identified and implemented to improve the economy to avoid a recession.
The recent visit to Toronto, Canada, by some Ministers to persuade Canadian businessmen to invest in Guyana is essential to improving the economy, but is not enough to produce sustainable economic growth.
First, the government has to create a proper business climate for investors. Second, it has to quell the perception spread by the PPP that it is anti-business. And third, it is too costly for Ministers to travel to North America with the hope that they will succeed in getting foreign investment.
They should appoint a council of economists and qualified business personnel to lead in that direction. They should travel only when it is certain that a deal is made.
That aside, the government has to create jobs, fix the crumbling infrastructure, reduce poverty and crime and improve the economic growth rate which is now below one percent to a sustainable level that would translate into jobs for the youths who make up more than 60 percent of the voting population. Failing this, the electorate will not be forgiving.

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