Jagdeo throws another tantrum

Aug 18, 2023 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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Kaieteur News – The President’s national record for the longest opening statement at a Press Conference remains intact, but just barely. Vice President, Bharat Jagdeo came mighty close to shaving a few minutes off that record yesterday but managed to stop himself before it was too late.

As usual the Vice President launched into another extended tantrum full of name calling and the usual ‘buse’ out, against the Opposition and its leader. He also threw a fit at Glenn Lall and GHK Lall.

However, by now the press corps and the public have grown accustomed to such crass and classless performances by the Vice President. Just like the President’s last press conference, the questions asked had little to do with the opening statement.

At yesterday’s presser, Jagdeo was again compelled to mention how much the Guyanese people are benefiting from the economy. One example given was the increase in the public sector wage Bill by some 37B over its 2019 equivalent.

But those numbers are aggregated numbers and conceal more than they reveal. Given that Jagdeo said there were 30,000 persons who benefitted from this increase, this works out to a monthly average per capita increase of 35,000 over the past three years.

Jagdeo is fond of throwing out aggregate numbers in the hope of clouding the reality. The government’s monthly wage bill may have indeed increased by average of $35,000 per capita.  But certainly, the lowest paid public servants have not enjoyed a $35,000 increase in salaries in the three years that the PPPC came into office. This is why Jagdeo’s use of statistics is so deceptive.

Low income public servants are struggling to make ends meet. Low income workers have had a net decline in real incomes. The increases they have enjoyed under the PPPC administration have been eroded by the spiraling cost of living. Food prices have increased tremendously and this has hurt the pockets of the small man whose income is now buying less than before.

It took intense public agitation for the government to finally agree to an increase in the national minimum wage to $60,147 per month. For a long time, the government kept prevaricating on increasing the national minimum wage even though the sum had been agreed to within the tri-partite process since 2019.

All manner of excuses were made. At one time it was even said that a study had to be done. Most likely the PPPC government was receiving a pushback from its powerful backers in the private sector.

That new national minimum wage, set last year, was deemed as insufficient by a civil society grouping called Article 13. In light of the rising cost of living,  Article 13 demanded a G$75,000 national minimum wage Even FITUG called for the minimum wage to be increased pointing to double digit inflation in 2021.

It is time for a national living wage to be set, one that will be affordable and that will not have further inflationary effects. A living wage is calculated based on the minimum income required for an individual or a family to meet essential expenses such as housing, food, clothing transportation, other basic necessities, while also accounting for local cost of living variations. It is typically determined through thorough research and analysis, taking into consideration various factors including inflation rates and prevailing market prices. A living wages would enable workers to afford a decent standard of living, including housing and with something left over for savings.

Government can now afford the cost of a living wage. The only problem is whether the payment of such a living wage will fuel inflation and a loss of competitiveness. In 1999 when the public servants took to prolonged strike action and earned a hefty salary increase, the increases did not fuel inflation and so there is no reason why it should now.

The persons that stand in the way of the payment of a living wage are the private sector friends of the government. They will resist any move that is likely to reduce their profits. Yet, they find themselves in the unusual situation of their lowest paid workers earning less than the lowest paid workers in the public sector.

Yesterday, Jagdeo bragged about the gas-to-shore project. He admitted that the government will be generating energy at U$0.04 cents per kwh and will be selling this at around US$0.11 cents per kwh.

It has not yet dawned on Jagdeo that the cost of distributing the electricity is almost double the cost of producing it. These distribution costs are even higher than in the United States which has a more complex distribution network.

In lieu of an immediate living wage, the government can commit to granting households who consume less than 250Kwh per month free electricity. This can happen when the gas-to-shore plant comes on stream.

Subsidizing electricity for low usage consumers – more often the poor- is one way of reducing poverty.  But perhaps if Jagdeo stops throwing his weekly tantrums at the Opposition, he may come around to that realization.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of this newspaper and its affiliates.)

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• opposition, Peeping Tom, Press Conference, tantrum, yesterday

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