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Toshaos begging for increase on $30k stipend
– Shuman, other leaders decry $30k stipend
By Devina Bagot
Kaieteur News – “It is unfortunate that we are in this state as a country where Toshaos leaders are not being paid equal to their responsibilities, although there has been a consistent and continuous call by myself and others to ensure that that does not remain.”
This is the position of Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, Lennox Shuman. His comments came on the heels of a letter to this newspaper by Village Toshao Vivian Edwards.
Former Toshao and current Deputy Speaker, Lenox Shuman
In a letter to Kaieteur News, the Toshao said: “I think Toshaos deserve better than just a stipend. These men and women, work tirelessly for their respective communities. Toshaos wear many caps and do the work of peace officers, police officers, councillors, receptionists, negotiators, forest rangers, managers of their respective communities, and the list goes on. The Village Councils, which they head, are like an arm of many Ministries of the Government (Amerindian Affairs, Agriculture, Health), since they are expected to execute many plans of the Government”.He added that these Amerindian Village Leaders should be treated with more respect as $30,000 per month does not suffice to pay expenses and put food on the table throughout the month.
“The duties and responsibilities of a community leader are far more than one can imagine and I feel it has been too long that Toshaos are being neglected in this area. To make matters even worse, most Toshaos are family men and women. How can someone do all this work and still manage to provide for their families sufficiently with thirty thousand? We do encounter expenses for our school children, we have family obligations which all require money to get done,” the Toshao argued.
The Village leader said that an increase to match Public Servants minimum wage would be appreciated. “The festive season is upon us and just imagine our Toshaos spending thirty thousand dollar to meet the needs of their families,” she concluded.
Another Toshao, Bradford Allicock of Fairview, Region Nine said that the issue of an increase to the current stipend was only recently discussed when the Toshaos in the Region met for a Regional Conference. In fact, a proposal along this line was shared with the Government with no response to date, he said. “The last time the stipend was increased was under the previous administration. A lot of Toshaos asked the question because indeed we’re looking forward to an increase in our stipend cause as Toshaos a lot of work we would have to do and we have to just stick at one job as a Toshao, because the (Amerindian) Act says that we should not have more jobs as a Toshao. The cost of living is high, so waiting to collect $30,000 a month and if you have a large family, that would not be able to cover all of the expenses especially with children attending school and so on,” he explained.
The more than 40 Toshaos in the Region had joined in the call for the monthly allocations to be increased, Allicock said.
Indigenous leaders are calling for an increase in their stipend
Meanwhile, Shuman himself a former Toshao shared that he supports the call for more resources to be made available to Amerindian Village Leaders to enable them to better function in their capacity.
According to Shuman, “I think it is unfortunate that we are in this state as a country where Toshaos are leaders and they are not being paid equal to their responsibilities, although there has been a consistent and continuous call by myself and others to ensure that that does not remain”.
In fact, the Deputy Speaker said Toshaos’ stipend should be equivalent to a Minister’s salary. “I strongly believe that each Toshao should be paid what the ministers are being paid. When you look at them they are the councilors, they are the village leaders, they are the Mayors, they are the family that everyone goes to for help and I think they should be paid equal to a Minister.”
Similarly, Shuman said he shares the view that Executives of the NTC should be treated with equal importance and be given certain privileges, including a place to stay and a vehicle and driver for required visits to the Capital City.
The Toshaos Council presently has a 114 member body. It would cost the Government just under $8million, on a monthly basis, to increase the Toshaos allowance to the $70,000 minimum wage. Efforts to contact the Minister of Amerindian Affairs, Pauline Sukhai were futile. The Minister’s staff only related that the Minister was busy and other staff would return a call.
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