KINDLY publish this article which will justify the government’s position of a wage increase of 5% for Public Servants. However, I will be the first to state that in many cases wages in the private and public sectors are far from being sufficient to afford a high standard of living and in some cases a reasonable living standard. But is wage increase the panacea for the alleviation of our living standards?

The PPP/C government both under Dr Bharrat Jagdeo and His Excellency Donald Ramotar have done ‘mission impossible’ by steering the Guyana economy from the global economic meltdown and the devastating fallouts. On the other hand, if we look at the past we will see that the PNC government mismanaged, embezzled and pauperised this nation when the global economy was booming!
We must applaud the PPP/C government for changing the social and economic landscape of this country for the past twenty years. Unfortunately, over this same period, PNC cum APNU cum AFC have been doing their utmost to destroy those social and economic gains, moreso after the one seat parliamentary heist in November 2011. This date has become the Guyanese 9/11- a black day in our history.
The latest strategy of the opposition is to make the Public Servants’ 5% wage increase a political issue. We have seen APNU/AFC in the forefront trying to win the sympathy of the striking workers so that they can win political support. We have seen Moses Nagamootoo in the forefront demanding using his melodramatic and absurd rhetoric that Minister Webster should try to live on nurses’ wages. Surely, in many instances, age, bias, and thirst for vengeance and power have taken its toll and objective reasoning has fled!
The opposition’s main contention is that monies should be diverted from vital economic investments and used to pay a wage increase of 20%. Forget about the CJIA expansion, forget about the Marriot Hotel,forget about the Amaila Falls Hydro Project and forget about the specialty hospital!
At this point an explanation is needed to clarify what is meant by the term ‘inflation’. Simply put, inflation is the steady increase in the prices of goods and services over a period of time. As prices increase the purchasing power of the dollar will decrease-the dollar will buy less and less over time.
Firstly, if a wage increase is not sustained by economic growth then we will have a situation of wage-push inflation. This means that any wage increase above the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of a country will cause the prices of goods and services to skyrocket thereby eroding whatever wage increases were given. Our GDP is around 5%, therefore if wages and salaries are increased by 20% then the prices of goods and services will move in a similar manner. Then there will be another demand for a higher wage increase and the inflationary spiral will continue.
The result is that we may have to pay $2,000 for a loaf of bread! Both APNU and AFC have qualified economists who know this for a fact and yet they are unreasonably and insanely insisting on a 20% increase so the question is: Do they have the interest of this nation at heart? I think not! Our GDP must increase to sustain wage increase.
Secondly, the opposition is contending that monies which should be used for capital improvement and appreciation should be used to pay the 20% wage increase being demanded. This is killing the very investment that will ultimately assist to increase the GDP and any future wage increase. To obstruct investment in economic development is the worst form of unpatriotic behaviour and sabotage. This is a deliberate move to erode the economic gains made by this government and what is more appalling is that we have the so-called educated people lending a silent ear to this strategy being unleashed by the opposition. What are the views of financial and economic analysts and some of our leading personalities such as Christopher Ram, Dr Clive Thomas and Anand Goolsarran? It is time that they publicise their views on this subject matter. They owe the Guyanese populace this much! Please justify the demand for a 20% wage increase.
Mr Granger has called the 5% offered by the government as an ‘indecent proposal’, well he ought to know, he is an expert. Can he recall the time when the PNC government implemented a total ‘wage freeze’ in this country? What kind of ‘proposal’ was that? Why was the PNC government unable to pay a cent wage increase? Look at the salaries of Public Servants before 1992 and compare it what they are getting now!
In conclusion, it’s every Guyanese right to live a reasonable standard of living but we must understand that any wage increase must be backed by an increase in the volume of production and productivity. The PNC mantra when they were in government was ‘produce or perish’- that mantra should be revisited by them!
I do hope that good sense will prevail in this season of love and goodwill! I do beg the combined Opposition to use the electorate to get into power,stop sabotaging the PPP/C Government at each and every opportunity! Our country comes first!

HASEEF YUSUF
‘Former’ AFC Member/AFC Councillor