Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr Roger Luncheon on Thursday defended the scale of the salaries being paid to some contracted workers of the Office of the President (OP), which include high-profile members of the ruling party.
On Thursday, Luncheon told Stabroek News that the President can, at his discretion, create positions and appoint persons to fill them under the law.
Last week, Finance Minister Ashni Singh disclosed that several high-profile PPP members employed on a contractual basis by OP are among more than 180 persons not receiving monthly payments of wages and allowances as a result of the opposition-led cuts on this year’s budget. Among the PPP members employed at OP are the grandson of former presidents Cheddi Jagan and Janet Jagan, Cheddi Jagan III, a contracted employee being paid $478,476 monthly for services as at attorney and Charles Ramson, the son of the former Attorney General, who is designated as Technical Legal Director, for which he is paid $430,196 monthly.
“Those positions are positions that, constitutionally, the president had the authority to create. They are not public officers and, therefore, the idea of having some commitment to advertising for these posts takes and detracts from the discretion that the president enjoys in creating and appointing persons to those potions,” Luncheon explain-ed, when asked about the appointments.
He added that it can be assumed that qualifications would be among the criteria used in offering those appointments, he added, when asked if those in high-paying jobs at OP are qualified for the positions they hold.
Luncheon, however, demurred on the question of whether the contract workers were being paid too much. “I don’t want to sound greedy but I think that the average person is not disinclined to get and to be paid the salary and oftentimes a better salary than they are getting,” he said. “You may very well get them accepting that maybe that they are going to be paid a lot but it is commensurate with the responsibilities that they discharge,” he added.
Singh’s disclosure about OP salaries was part of a written response to a question posed by A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Member of Parliament (MP) Joseph Harmon, who sought to find out the name, agency, designation and salary of persons whose employment was terminated as a direct consequence of the budget cuts.
Singh noted that the cuts saw 124 contract employees at the Office of the President (OP), 36 Government Information Agency (GINA) employees, and 25 workers at the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC) not accessing their salaries.
Besides Ramson and Jagan, it was noted that Gail Teixeira, who has been a long-standing PPP member, is paid $967,985 monthly, representing a salary plus allowances for her duties as a presidential advisor.
Pandit Reepu Daman Persaud, the PPP’s longest serving central committee member, who is unwell and is aided during his public appearances, is also listed as an advisor to the president, for which he receives $412,266 monthly.
Listed as presidential advisor on sustainable development is the former Agriculture Minister for the PPP, Navin Chandarpal, who earns $470,000 monthly.
His wife, Indra Chandarpal, who is an MP for the PPP, is listed as the “Prime Executive of the Co-ord. Council [Women and Gender Equality Commission]” for which she is paid $393,117 monthly.
Luncheon, who is also a senior functionary of the PPP, is listed as being paid a salary of $895,326 monthly, while his Deputy, Hydar Ally, another PPP functionary, is paid $550,064 monthly.
Mahendra Roopnarine, also known as Romel Roopnarine, who is listed as a “Press Undersecretary OPL” and who served as the PPP/C’s Public Relations officer during last year’s elections, was listed as receiving $395,000 monthly while the substantive OP Communica-ions Co-ordinator, Kwame McCoy is listed as earning a monthly salary of $334,850, including allowances.
Among the non-party officials retained as advisors was former army head retired Major General Joe Singh. Singh, who recently returned to the helm of GT&T, was listed as being paid $667,440 for services as special assistant to the president.
In a subsequent letter to this newspaper, however, he said that the amount quoted is reflective of a gross salary, one-third (1/3) of which is deducted at source and paid over to the Guyana Revenue Authority.
He also said that since his interim appointment as Chief Executive Officer (ag) of the GT&T, he had taken a personal decision to forego a monthly salary from the OP for the duration of his stint at the telecoms company.
