In addition to their five percent 2013 salary increase, members of the Joint Services will receive for Christmas, one month’s salary tax free.
In making the announcement yesterday at the Guyana Defence Force’s annual Christmas Luncheon, the Government Information Agency (GINA) said that President Donald Ramotar stated that he had instructed that the monies be available before next Wednesday.
According to GINA, the deadline was to ensure that officers enjoyed the holidays and can begin
the New Year refreshed and invigorated to execute their duties.
The Commander-in-Chief at the event stated that greater emphasis must be placed on training and professionalism in the army saying that with global technological and scientific growth it was imperative that the force’s training be geared to create a more modern country.
According to GINA, the President also pointed out the importance of the training being able to be carried over long after the servicemen would have left the force. So when our soldiers would have left the army, they can continue to make a valuable contribution to the development of the country…” Ramotar is quoted as saying.
He also urged soldiers to care equipment supplied to them as millions are spent in this area and preservation of what they had, ensured savings which could be channeled into other areas beneficial to them.
“We still have to fight poverty in our country, we still have to create more jobs for our people and we still have to provide quality education and quality health care to all our people and therefore, if we can care our equipment that we have so that we can have longer service from them, at a very high level and have value for money. Then indirectly, you will be making another form of contribution to the development of Guyana,” GINA quoted him as saying.
