GOVERNMENT yesterday asked that the nation continue to place “trust” in it, even as it explains the conditions under which ministers were given a 50% pay hike recently. Speaking at a post-Cabinet press briefing yesterday, Minister of Governance Raphael Trotman pleaded with the country to trust the government. “We say to the people of Guyana to trust us. You have trusted us with government on May 11 and we ask you to continue to trust and believe in us. I think that if you were to do a comparative study of all of the salaries of government and judicial officers across the Region, you will find that these are not way above the norm,” said Trotman.
He told the media that the decision to increase salaries of ministers was “inevitable.” Last week Minister of State Joseph Harmon said the administration considered that it was important that members of the government are well paid. “It is justifiable, we cannot have a situation like the PPP where they were prepared to accept low salaries because they were thieving money all over the place…we cannot have that,” the Minister of State told the media. He stressed that government ministers have an obligation to ensure that citizens get the best out of them and so being well paid ought to be an expectation.
Rejected higher salary proposals
Cabinet, Trotman said, gave its unanimous approval for the decision to increase the salaries. He noted, however, that government had received two proposals from independent sources that were rejected. The rejected proposals suggested higher salaries than agreed by the APNU+AFC government. An increase in salaries for government members is not usually accepted by the masses in other territories, Trotman observed, so the reaction by Guyanese is not novel.
“We hear the concerns…we are not numb to the concerns of the people but we ask that the people continue to trust us, so that we can bring that better life to them.”
The Minister of Governance explained that, “A judge of the high court on the commencement on the most junior level receives a salary in excess of a million dollars; there are three branches to government, Judiciary, Legislature and Executive, it is expected that there would be some parity between the three.”
According to Trotman, an increase in salaries for politicians and judges globally are never favoured by the masses. “Recent studies have shown that in Latin America and the Caribbean we are at an all-time low in terms of public opinion of elected officials. It is not a popular decision to take. In some countries it has led to riots…,” he said, adding that the increase “is necessary.”
Asked whether he feels it was the right time to effect the increase in salaries for government officials, Trotman responded, “Of course 20/20 vision tells you that perhaps the timing was wrong or right… in a matter like this there is no such thing as the right time, because other events overtake you, other circumstances change and there is no such time perhaps as the present.”
Not hiding
The Minister of Governance made it clear that the government had no intention of hiding the increase.
“There is no desire for us to run and hide, so we stand before you giving our reasons why what we did was done… I think if we are to do a comparison study of the salaries of government and judicial officers throughout the Regions we’d find that these are in no way above or far from what is the norm,” he stated. “I don’t believe it was hidden any place because once you gazette these you are making it open and no attempt to hide anything.”
Change of plan
Recently, Trotman at a post-Cabinet press briefing had said that increases in salaries for government ministers would have happened next year but yesterday Trotman said he was unsure whether he did say next year and sought to provide clarity. “I did make a pronouncement as directed by Cabinet that there were some proposals on the table. Cabinet then was of the mood that time would be taken to study them, perhaps I ventured a little too far by saying not this year. But I did say the differentiation will come, has to come and that Cabinet was studying two proposals.
“Cabinet, however, took the view that based on what was before it, it was okay to proceed notwithstanding the commission and that both the budget and the treasury could sustain the increases and therefore in September Cabinet formed the opinion unanimously, it should go ahead.”
Asked whether he considers the increase to government ministers to be “astronomical,” Trotman said, “Fifty per cent is not astronomical… one hundred per cent is astronomical… I think 50 per cent is fair.”
Meanwhile, Trotman noted that adjustments would be made to the salaries of public servants following recommendations to be submitted by the current Public Service Commission of Inquiry. Over the past week, many have attacked the government over its decision to increase salaries of government ministers. The trades union body as well as many civil society groups chided the government for what is believed to be the government catering to itself before catering to the needs of the masses.
In an Extraordinary Official Gazette of September 25, Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo received a 10 per cent increase that will now see him being paid $20,580,000 per annum. Vice presidents will receive $11,135,064 per annum while senior government ministers are to receive $10,439,124 per annum. Junior ministers will receive just over $8,346,492 per annum. The attorney general will receive the same salary as the Chancellor of the Judiciary; Speaker of the National Assembly is to receive $10,439,124 per annum. Meanwhile, the Leader of the Opposition will also receive $10,439,124 while Parliamentary Secretaries will receive $3,753, 984 per annum. The Deputy speaker will receive $2,702, 880 and the chief whip will receive $2, 682, 360 per annum. Every other member of the National Assembly will receive $2, 402, 532 per annum. Earlier this year, government announced a 5 per cent salary increase for public servants.