Dear Editor,
Decisions in Guyana, both of the government and the opposition, are often made with motives that support their own agendas. No one has the ‘ultimate truth’ of what should happen or what should not happen. Has anyone wondered why we have eminently qualified doctors in our health system, yet as patients, we often go to another doctor for a second opinion. This is a natural phenomenon.
The Minister of Finance, Dr Ashni Singh, saying that the proposed Chairman of GuySuCo is eminently qualified, should fall into the same category referred to above. What the Minister is telling us is that this person has the ability, qualifications, experience, and technical know-how to turn GuySuCo around. Can the Minister then give us a few bullet points to justify his assertion? If he can do that, I would be willing to listen.
We then come to GPL. I read Christopher Ram’s comments today, and as an accountant, Mr Ram has brought out some simple facts that any accountant should have known. I understand that the Prime Minister and the Chairman of the Board are not accountants, but I imagine that they have at their disposal eminently qualified ac-countants to advise them.
I agree that professionals need to be compensated adequately for the services they perform, however, in the case of GuySuCo and GPL, making some political appointments to the board and management seem to override every other consideration. I do not object to these appointments, but the bulk of their compensation should be based on the performance of the company. There should be realistic targets that should be achieved before the rest of the compensation is paid. I suggest that the government look at DDL and Banks DIH, and learn from these companies. Their executives have a basic compensation package, and added to their basic pay is additional compensation based on the achievement of their goals.
I believe that a substantial part of the compensation for the executives of GuySuCo and GPL should relate to achieving realistic goals.
Yours faithfully,
Charles Sugrim
