Dear Editor,
The recent announcement about a 50% increase in salaries for Ministers of the APNU-AFC government has been received with outrage and criticism by many quarters in Guyana. Red Thread activists, Dr David Hinds, Lincoln Lewis,
Frederick Kissoon and other individuals and sectors have already condemned the controversial salary increase albeit with different emphases. David Hinds for instance talks about the bad timing. Kissoon focuses on the comparative treatment of workers in the public service and Lincoln Lewis stated that if they desired wealth ministers should go into the private sector. Red Thread vowed public protests over the insensitive pay raise for the big boys. We wholeheartedly endorse these criticisms but would like to briefly respond to two aspects of Minister of State Joe Harmon’s defence of the increases.
First, the statement that he (Harmon) had “no apologies” to make for the announced pay hike. Minister Harmon’s tone was to say the least arrogant and reflective of his immediate predecessor’s treatment of queries and criticisms by the press and public. There has been no parallel exuberance of the state in relation to public servant and teachers pay increases. Perception is a very important role in how the public views its representatives in government and we hope that the government learns quickly from the outrage generated by the rash and ill-timed salary increase for ministers.
Even more astonishing was Minister Harmon’s rationale for the precipitous rise in salaries for ministers. The Minister told the nation that the APNU/AFC was implementing the increases to stop potential corruption. Does the Minister realize the logic of that statement? Is the upshot of this reasoning that Ministers of the Guyana government are preordained for future corruption? Guyana is really in a bad state when Mr Harmon, in defence of the indefensible, proclaims a high salary to halt future corruption. Is he implying that corruption is ingrained in Guyana’s DNA especially at the ministerial level? We now shudder to think what will occur if and when the oil revenues begin to flow. What form will Mr Harmon’s defence take then? That there has to be a 500% increase for Ministers to prevent the siphoning off of the oil money?
All this is taking place while other branches of the same state are taking commendable initiatives in terms of public trust and recovery of monies unaccounted for in the previous administration. Dr Clive Thomas and his Asset Recovery team are assiduously looking into the recovery of the nation’s resources and corruption of the past regime. We wonder how Dr Thomas’s team views this unilateral and ill-timed raise for ministers of the Government.
One story stands as testament to unflinching antagonism to public excess in any form. Once sent to represent Guyana abroad Eusi Kwayana received a “thousand dollar cheque for ‘additional expenses, and inconveniences’”. Kwayana sent it back to the Public Treasury. He received another and sent that back too with a note stating that he had no “any additional expenses” and that he had not been “inconvenienced in the least.” Contemporary cynics might suggest that he is an exceptional Guyanese of a different era. Yet we badly need that example in Guyana today. Elected officials are under an obligation to render public service and not service for profit.
Yours faithfully,
Keith Branch
Abbyssinian
Nigel Westmaas
Moses Bhagwan