Dear Editor,
In an incontrovertible period of economic slowdown in Guyana, the new Granger-led APNU+AFC government’s decision to increase their salaries by over 50% while other public servants got less than 5% has in one fell swoop converted itself from the incompetent to the incompetent and heartless.
In an effort to provide some clarity I believe the more important question is: what is the cost of the new Granger-led APNU+AFC government to the treasury?
With reference to the foregoing, I pose the following simple questions to President Granger and the APNU+AFC government on behalf of all of the people of Guyana:
- Will the increase mean higher productivity? (If the answer is ‘yes’ then it means that for the last 6 months they have not been working as hard as they could have been and if the answer is ‘no’ then they do not deserve an increase.)
- Are they saying that the only way a country can have ministers who are not corrupt is by having a large salary or a salary that is more than eleven times the average salary? If the answer is yes please show me where this was posted in their manifesto and contract with the electorate.
- Can they account for their failure to deliver on their manifesto promise of 20% increase to public servants, police, teachers, nurses while giving themselves a 50%+ increase?
- Since ‘public service’ is intended to be a ‘service’ to the ‘public’ can the President and all the ministers publish their previous declared taxable income which will show how many of them ever earned more than their current salary?
- How do they justify the President and the Attorney General’s salaries being tax free?
Yours faithfully,
Charles S Ramson
Attorney at Law
Member of Parliament
