–Jagdeo says, blasts Opposition Leader for hypocrisy

GENERAL Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo has blasted Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton for his “hypocrisy” and misleading remarks on a supposed “wage disparity”.

Norton had attempted to criticise the government by comparing the salaries of high-ranking officials like the President, Dr. Irfaan Ali to junior public sector workers.

In exposing Norton’s “hypocrisy”, Jagdeo said: “We looked at his total monthly emoluments and allowances, and it works out to $1.8 million.

“$1.8 million Norton earns now, for doing nothing, practically,” Jagdeo sneered.

This figure, according to the PPP General Secretary, excludes Norton’s annual vacation allowance and other annual payments.

Jagdeo said: “He (Norton) also gets a budget to run his office, running into tens of millions of dollars.”

Further exposing the PNC-R/APNU/AFC’s duplicity, he criticised the former coalition government for its “arrogance” and what he described as a “sad record” on public sector remuneration.

Jagdeo recalled how the then government, upon assuming office in 2015, argued that public servants were earning excessive salaries, only to later give themselves a 50 per cent pay increase that same year.

Jagdeo pointed out the stark contrast, noting that while the APNU+AFC government awarded itself the hefty pay raise, public servants were given just a five per cent increase.

“Let me refresh people’s minds, because that’s what they’re trying to do. They’re trying to rewrite the history and their sordid track record,” Jagdeo said, accusing the APNU+AFC of attempting to rewrite history regarding their handling of public sector salaries.

Only recently, Jagdeo had highlighted the several malpractices and the blatant disregard for the law from 2015-2020, dubbing this period under the coalition government as the most corrupt in Guyana’s history.

“After making all the lofty promises that they did; after claiming that they were not corrupt, and they were clean, and they had all the plans to change Guyana, we now realise that period was a period in which we had the most corruption in our entire history,” the General Secretary had said.