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AN OPEN LETTER TO THE MINISTER OF FINANCE

Oct 22, 2016 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

Dear Minister of Finance,
Here are some suggestions for the National Budget for next year.
1. Increase the old age pension to $25,000 per month but ensure that only persons living in Guyana and who can prove that they are older than sixty-five can receive the pension. If a man can get two fake passports, given all those checks that take place at the Passport Office then it cannot be hard for a fifty-year old man to obtain a fake birth certificate to say that he is seventy-five. Guyanese are bare-faced. At GPL they have some young strong men with only streaks of grey in their hair, joining the elderly line. You have women who have high tummies who pretend there are pregnant and join the same line. Any and every thing can happen, Verify those names on the pension list and raise the pension.
2. Stop granting duty free concessions on vehicles to persons from outside of Guyana. This is big rip off and it is unfair to Guyanese who stay and work here to not be able to afford a simple car. Yet people who can afford to pay their duties are given duty free concessions on vehicles simply because they have lived outside of Guyana for a certain period.
3. Remove the income tax threshold so that everyone can learn to pay taxes. But lower the tax band for those earning below $50,000 per month so that their present incomes are not affected.
4. Allow Guyanese to leave this country for the Caribbean with their driver license or ID card. People should not have to use their passport to go to Suriname. In fact, some people go to Suriname without a passport.
5. Close down NCN and GINA and the Department of Public Information and all those public relations personnel in government offices. If the government does its job properly it does not need to bother about its image.
6. Offer teachers and police, a 100% increase in salary. Where will the money come from? Cancel some of those unnecessary contracts which are being funded with state resources and institute an education surcharge on all workers, public and private sector.
7. Institute a four-day workweek in government offices. This will result in an increase in earnings by 20% since instead of working five days per week, workers will work four days. They will be happier and come to work on Mondays prepared to work rather than being tired from the two-day weekend.
8. Cut out all overtime for government workers. Ask each worker to write down what they would have done each day and then assess whether they are doing enough work. Instead of paying overtime, employ additional persons if there is additional work to be done. Some government offices should have a second shift that allows some in from 5 in the afternoon until 1:00 am. More people will be employed and more work will be done.
9. Build a new bridge across the Demerara River to ease the congestion. The over-fly that is being proposed will not work. Guyana is too big a country to be having flyovers. There is need for another road from the back of Diamond to the East Coast.
10. Appoint an internal auditor in every government Ministry. It will give you less headaches.
Peeping Tom

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