Dear Editor,
I refer to a recent statement from the Guyana Public Service Union reported in sections of the media which criticizes my remarks made at an Alliance For Change press conference held on Friday September, 23, 2016.
In the interest of fullness please find below a transcript of the discussion to which the statement refers. This represents the totality of my public comments on this matter.
Question from KN reporter: “On the issue of spending power and Minister Jordan’s initiative would you say that the final offer to the public servants would help regular Guyanese to improve their spending power…?”
My response: “Yes, I think a 10 per cent increase certainly… certainly does increase spending power… it’s 10 per cent more money at the disposal… Interruption by reporter: “Is it sufficient?”
My response: “It’s [pause] sufficient is a difficult word… profits for businesses are never sufficient, you know, that is the nature of business. Businesses always need bigger and bigger profits and I assume that human nature is no different. We want bigger and bigger salaries every year if we can get it so, no wage increase would ever be sufficient, it has to do more with what can be afforded…”‘
Follow-up question from reporter: “But is it livable, is it a livable wage, can it be considered a livable wage?”
My response: “… it depends on how we want to live; in many countries, you know, compared to a lot of countries, Guyanese earn considerably more than in a lot of developing countries, that doesn’t mean that it’s sufficient. You know, a lot of things are relative; we are still… we are not a rich country as yet. We have great natural wealth and I think part of our job as a government is to find ways to make sure that that natural wealth is spread among everyone and that it creates opportunities for everyone and I think this is what we are working towards…”
Yours faithfully,
Dominic Gaskin
Minister of Business
