Dear Editor,
It is the young South African theologian Hanno Langenhoven who posits that “obscene richness in the light of extreme poverty is a grave injustice.” In Guyana the PPP/C, in the last parliament used their parliamentary majority to bulldoze the opposition and pass the Former Presidents‘ (Benefits and Other Facilities) Act, deliberately fashioned for President Bharrat Jagdeo. This package, once implemented, will see millions of taxpayers‘ dollars doled out to Mr Jagdeo every month to provide him with a luxurious lifestyle. Guyanese taxpayers, both present and those to come, will be forced to pay to upkeep the exorbitant lifestyle of Mr Jagdeo. What is unfortunate is that the people who are made to pay for this are themselves unable to provide adequately for their own children and are mostly themselves living in squalor. How can this be fair?
It is expected that this 10th Parliament should act to reverse this unnecessary and dangerous legislation and work to ensure that this burden will not be placed on the backs of the ordinary Guyanese. One would have thought that young Mr Jagdeo would himself have exhibited some degree of conscience and requested that his party not force upon the people the obnoxious responsibility of maintaining his luxurious lifestyle.
There seemed that no rule, principle or socio-economic reality was taken into consideration when the PPP/C decided to fashion this package to benefit Mr Jagdeo, an unmarried man with no children. So, along with the other sensible budget cuts to be made I would implore the 10th Parliament and the people of Guyana to take action to repeal the Former Presidents‘ (Benefits…) Act in its present form. Failure to do so would be a grave injustice to the people of Guyana.
Let it be known that I am not against retirement benefits to be given to any president or national leader who has served the country, but I am against those benefit packages which clearly are not commensurate with the prevailing economic and social realities of the society. Clearly, the current benefits package is a deal which goes beyond the reasonable imagination of any Guyanese. This is a classic example of “obscene richness” in the face of “extreme poverty.”
While government workers are threatened with dismissal, the government invested in unthinkable luxury for Mr Jagdeo; where is the equity, fairness and justice in this decision?
Yours faithfully,
Lurlene Nestor
