Govt MPs should leave their ivory towers to see how Guyanese are fairing

Govt MPs should leave their ivory towers to see how Guyanese are fairing – Komal Chand

Dec 09, 2018 News

Member of the Opposition, Komal Chand, has said that the government has taken certain measures that prevent its members from being able to understand the living conditions of regular Guyanese.
Chand stated that the measures proposed by the government’s 2019 budget are anti-working class policies, and that they expose the APNU/AFC Coalition’s lack of concern for poor people.
The increase in the tax threshold, he explained, is negligible compared to the fact that the government had promised an increase of the threshold to $100,000 per month. He said that it would account for about $47 extra per day for persons earning the minimum wage; that it can’t account for much, especially in the face of the minibus fares.

Member of the Opposition, Komal Chand

The government had announced increases for public servants, ranging from 0.5 percent for persons earning over $1M to as high as seven percent for persons earning under $100,000. This accompanies the lifting of the income tax threshold to $780,000.
Minister Jordan had touted this as a 30 percent increase, which would see approximately $805M being returned to taxpayers.
Chand said that the government has not been making enough of the necessary consultations with respective unions for public servant salary increases. He stated, “Collective bargaining is not an option. It is an obligation. Today, the government’s commitment to that obligation rings hallow.”
Minister Jordan had said that consultations with unions would precede further attempts to increase public servants’ wages in 2019. Jordan stated that the government intends to develop a multi-year salary package that improves workers’ income over a defined period.
Also to be done are negotiations on improving allowances in the public service with the Guyana Public Service Union.
The pension increase is also not enough to make a dent for the benefit of the elderly, stated Chand. He said that the $1000 increase in the pension would only provide an extra $33 per day for pensioners.
The increase proposed by Minister Jordan is from $19,500 of the minimum basic pension to $20,500. Jordan had also proposed to increase Public Assistance from $8000 to $9000.
Chand stated that the government’s tax concessions make it seem as though the government is moving back and forth, since they introduced and increased certain tax measures and are now decreasing or removing measures, yet still incurring a net increase in taxes since the APNU/AFC Coalition took office.
The government’s tax reform measures include the waiving of duties and VAT on certain new equipment, exemptions of hybrid and electric vehicles, relief from customs duty to import cars with 2000 cc in wattage, etc. The minister had said that the total tax relief to be imposed would see $3.5B in tax revenue being returned to the people.
He said that, since the government has come into office, it has spent $1.72 trillion, but that this spending has not yielded enough results for the working class.