Dear Editor,
Dr Nanda Gopaul, who is the Permanent Secretary in the Office of the President listed various payments to former presidents and their dependents (‘Benefits received by former presidents and widows following passing of Former Presidents… Act, No 8 2009’ Sunday Stabroek, Nov 13). One item stands out: “The last amount paid [to the late president Arthur Chung] in June 2008 was $1,085,427 per month, ie, $US5,000.
So President Jagdeo’s defenders have proved their point? President Jagdeo at age 47 (retired) would begin receiving the same amount as Arthur Chung. Dr Gopaul’s simplistic argument is that if Mr Arthur Chung received US$5,000 a month, that makes it right for Mr Jagdeo to also receive the same.
However, Mr Chung was 90 when he began receiving US$5,000 a month. He received it briefly before he died. Isn’t there an ocean of difference between Mr Chung’s situation and that of Mr Jagdeo? Why should Mr Jagdeo be allowed to receive US$5,000 a month when he is still able-bodied, youthful and would most likely still hold another paying job? Isn’t this double-dipping from the public till?
The law passed in 2009 contains a long list of unspecified and uncapped expenses that could amount to between US$20,000 to US$50,000 a month. Per capita income in Guyana is only US$2,500 and the average pensioner gets only US$37 a month. Only a ethically challenged person would not see the immorality in this law.
The bill was voted on by PPP parliamentarians only. The opposition had walked out because the movers of the bill refused to place caps on the various items. In most constitutions, bills pertaining to finance and moneys from the treasury require the presence of the opposition parliamentarians.
Would Dr Cheddi Jagan, one of the fathers of this nation and founder of the party that Mr Jagdeo inherited have signed this bill into law? This law allowing Mr Jagdeo to simultaneously receive a pension at age 47, and a salary if he gets new employment is really a law legalizing double-dipping at the public till.
Charles Dickens’ epithet “The law is an ass” certainly applies to this pension package signed into law by President Jagdeo. The law is at once badly written – no caps for expenses – passed without the presence of the opposition, and immoral – it is a clear plundering of the treasury in one of the poorest countries in the Western hemisphere.
Yours faithfully,
Mike Persaud
