A REDEFINITION OF DESERVING – THE NEW APNU+AFC DICTIONARY

Monday , October 12 2015, Source

IN THE dictionary deserving means people who have earned something justly through merit, but APNU+AFC has changed the definition to REWARDING FAILURE, INEPTIUDE AND ARROGANCE WITH AN ASTRONOMICAL PAY INCREASE.  Upon assuming office APNU+AFC told the people that the country was in a bad state, the economy was ruined and the treasury was bankrupt and they could not give public servants the promised 20% increase, reduce VAT, give the $10,000 per child in school, double old age pension and increase the school uniform voucher to $20,000 per child, all promises that were made during the elections campaign.

Under the circumstances, therefore, it would have been reasonable to expect that the APNU+AFC government would have cut their salaries, which they claimed during the election campaign were the highest government cabinet salaries in the world. Given the gloom and doom that they portrayed to the people, it would have been fair to cut out these “unnecessarily high salaries” for the Cabinet.

Instead, they have increased their salaries, not by a little, but by what is indisputably the highest salary increases in the world. The justification is that they earned and deserved the increases. In effect, APNU+AFC shamelessly proclaimed that teachers, police officers, doctors, nurses, engineers and other public servants did not earn and deserve pay increases.

Here is only a sample of why APNU+AFC think it deserves astronomical increases in salary and benefits. They wrecked the rice industry by causing a collapse of the market and the price for paddy because it is a private sector business. They are proud of the “wise” decision to cut out the $10,000 per child school program and mortgage subsidies for first time home owners. They “brag” about dismissing 2,000 young Amerindians and hundreds of East Indian public servants. They “delight” in cutting out the water bill and electricity subsidies for pensioners. They sabotaged parliamentary independence and transparency and the procurement and tender standards. Above all, they steward the downturn of the economy and the plummeting business and investments in our country.

For good measure APNU+AFC argue that the pay increase for Ministers will prevent them to “thief all over the place”. They arrogantly explain that they could not work for the low salaries the PPP ministers were willing to work for. These people who had told the GRA they worked for small salaries and, therefore, paid little taxes, now claim they were earning big salaries in their private practices with a PPP Government, but refuse to produce evidence of taxes they paid.

In the USA where the average citizen earns about $US53,000 and the minimum salary is about $US20,000 per year, its President (President Obama) makes about $US400,000 per year or just over $US33,000 per month. Next door in Trinidad and Tobago, the Bahamas, Jamaica, the Prime Minister’s salary is about $US100,000 annually ($US8,000 per month). In Brazil, the President’s salary is about $US12,000 per month. All these countries are much richer than Guyana.

While the salaries of our President and Prime Minister are not as low in comparison to the US President’s salary and are as high or higher than the salaries of the Prime Ministers of Canada, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, the Bahamas, Brazil and much higher than the salary of the President of Venezuela. Obama’s salary is about 20 times that of the minimum salary in the USA, while Nagamootoo who is not the head of state is earning, without benefits, more than 50 times the minimum salary in Guyana.

In addition, junior ministers under APNU+AFC is earning with benefits more than $US5,000 per month or more than 25 times the minimum salary in Guyana. Under the PPP, a senior minister working for over 20 years, like Clement Rohee, earned less than $US3,000 per month.

But APNU+AFC spokespeople, like Granger, Greenidge, Basil Williams, Trotman, Harmon, Nagamootoo and Ramjattan maliciously lied that PPP officials were the highest paid in the world. APNU+AFC got their surrogates on TV in Berbice and Essequibo every night repeating the lies. Many people, including PPP supporters believed the lies.

APNU+AFC used words like “raping the treasury”, “fleecing the poor people”, etc. to describe the salaries of the President, Prime Minister and Ministers of the PPP Government. Nagamootoo, like a crusader, exclaimed repeatedly that the PPP Cabinet was living a “Cadillac lifestyle in a donkey cart economy”.  They insisted that Guyana’s level of development did not warrant the salaries that the President, Prime Minister and Ministers of the PPP were earning. They promised on the election platform to reduce the “exorbitant” salary structures for Cabinet.

In social media terms, some will consider the pay hike for Granger, Nagamootoo, Williams and the others as LOL and LMAO.  But this is truly a case of “woe be unto us”. They lied to the people and now they are laughing all the way to the bank.  Truly their real intent was always to rape the treasury and fleece the people. APNU+AFC has now openly declared to public servants it is ok to take bribes and thief.

DR. LESLIE RAMSAMMY