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Caretaker Ministers should take pay cut

May 02, 2020 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,

The caretaker Ministers (indeed all 65 Members of Parliament and four ‘professional Ministers’) have not been functioning since March 2 and should consider taking a pay cut and donate the amount to the effort of combating the spread of the Coronavirus. Given that they have enriched themselves and have been occupying office post elections, they should take the lead in volunteering a pay cut and donating all of it to the Covid fight. More importantly, the caretaker President should order an expedited completion of the re-tabulation of Region 4 SOPs so a winner can be officially declared. Both sides can still carry out the Caricom agreement for a recount after the completion of the Region 4 tabulation.
Potential victims are not being tested and lives are lost needlessly. Time is being lost to combat the disease. I have been reading news from around the globe on conserving and directing funds to combating the effects of the pandemic that has posed a serious threat to populations everywhere. India was the first country to start a pandemic fund since mid-March with Prime Minister Modi taking a lead role in starting a Cares Fund that has attracted tens of millions of dollars in contributions from the public and from the Indian diaspora. Other countries have followed in taking pay cuts not the least being New Zealand, St. Lucia, among others.
In India, the government has taken a 30% cut in salary for Ministers. The funds are going towards Covid-19 response. The Members of Parliament have also taken a pay cut and all of their development funds for their districts (of about US$1M each per year of 545 MPs) has been cancelled and re-directed towards fighting the pandemic. In addition, the legislators of each legislature and their cabinets of India’s 29 states have been taking pay cuts and donating the funds to the effort to combat Corona. Ditto legislators of local city governments. Bureaucrats have donated one day’s salary to the national fund.
In New Zealand, the Ministers and the parliament have taken a 20% pay cut. St. Lucia Ministers have taken 75% pay cut. Several other countries have announced pay cuts of elected officials, Ministers, and civil servants with everyone chipping in to help the Corona cause.
When will Guyana caretaker government and caretaker opposition MPs embrace the global trend? The opposition is applauded for its generous effort, headed by Dr. Irfaan Ali, to provide masks to almost everyone, PPE to medical staff, and food for the less fortunate. The caretaker government needs to up its response to helping the population. What better way than for the caretaker Ministers and President and PM to take, say a 50% cut in salary and direct it towards the medical response. The civil service and the bureaucrats should also consider taking a percentage cut in salary (or donate few days salary) in support of the medical response to Corona.
I salute those on the frontline, medical workers and related staff and volunteers helping people to stay safe and feeding the unemployed.

Yours truly,
Dr. Vishnu Bisram

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