Dear Editor,
The 50% salary increase is now a closed matter as far as the Government is concerned, so writing on this is like flogging a dead horse. However, I wish to offer my thoughts on Mr. Nowrang Persaud’s letter `Attorney General’s salary should have been red-circled’, (Stabroek News, October 25, 2015). Mr. Persaud states “Red circling would have meant holding the AG´s salary at its historical (not objectively/systematically evaluated) level until incremental increases in the related salaries caught up or achieved job-evaluated relativities”.
I have great respect and admiration for Mr. Persaud. For a short while many decades ago, he was my teacher at the Hindu College in Guyana. Later, he gained a university degree then had a distinguished career as a Human Resources Management professional with Bookers Sugar Estates (predecessor of GuySuCo), the Ontario Government, the United Nations and GuySuCo in that order.
I do not disagree with his suggestion that “Red circling” could have been used as an interim solution in this matter. However, I believe the Government should have followed past precedent. While Prime Minister Nagamootoo claims there was an anomaly unlike what occurred in the previous administration, I believe precedent was established during the early Presidency of Mr. Burnham. During the period August 1984 to August 1985, Mr Desmond Hoyte was the Prime Minister under the Presidency of Mr. Burnham and Dr. Mohamed Shahabuddeen was the Attorney General. Both Mr. Hoyte and Dr. Shahabuddeen were leading luminaries of the time with the designation of Senior Counsel.
As lawyers in private practice, both the current Attorney General and the Prime Minister would have relied on past precedents in arguing their cases in the courts of the country. As such, one would expect them to understand the importance of past precedents. At this time we need to know what was the precedent set during the Burnham Presidency and whether Mr. Hoyte, as Prime Minister in 1984-85, was granted a salary that was greater than that of Dr. Shahabuddeen, the Attorney General. This information would help citizens to assess the explanation offered by the Prime Minister.
Yours faithfully,
Harry Hergash
