Cork ball or leather ball!
Dec 12, 2018 , Kaieteur News, https://www.kaieteurnewsonline...all-or-leather-ball/
The Minister of Agriculture deserves a new vehicle. But not a $17M vehicle. Ministers are members of the Executive. They are the public face of the government. In fact, they are the government. They are important people. Some of them even behave as if they are higher mortals.
Ministers have to be treated with respect. They ought to be given benefits befitting their high standing in society. No Minister should be driving a defective vehicle, more so, one which constantly breaks down.
The sight of a Minister’s vehicle breaking down in public will bring him or her into disrepute. It is embarrassing and no Minister, regardless of if that person is AFC or APNU or WPA, should be subject to such embarrassment.
The Minister of Agriculture for too long was assigned a ‘cork ball” vehicle. This is an unsatisfactory situation and it is high time that the Minister of Agriculture receives a fit and proper vehicle.
No one should begrudge the Minister or complain over the fact that an allocation has been made to ensure that he obtains a new vehicle for the New Year.
But why was the sum of $17 M allocated for a vehicle. The government does not pay import taxes on vehicles and therefore this sum which is allocated is for a duty-free vehicle.
G$17M amounts to US$85,000. It may be cheaper for a Minister to move from home to office using a special hire each day. If that Minister, for example lives in the city, it will not cost him more than $1000 per day or $5,000 per five day work week or $20,000 per month or $240,000 per year. For five years that works out to $1.2M or US$6,000. There will be no maintenance costs, no petrol to be purchased and no chauffeur to be employed.
Compare that to having to spend US$85,000 just for the vehicle then having to spend millions more over a five-year period for maintenance and gasoline and plus the costs associated with having a chauffeur. The vehicles have to be washed regularly and waxed. The tyres have to be regularly changed. All of this costs a fortune when considering we have more than 20 Ministers.
But one of the benefits of Ministerial office is the provision of a vehicle and driver. You do not expect Ministers to be hurrying to call a special hire to get to work or to have to use the vehicle pool at their respective Ministries.
You do not expect a Minister to be driven to work in a Toyota 212. Some of them have never sat in such a low-priced vehicle. They may have to do so come 2020 and the electorate decides that enough is enough with the extravagance of the APNU+AFC.
Most of the Ministers are today driving sports utility vehicles or SUVs as they are abbreviated. Most Ministers drive vehicles with engine cylinder capacities in excess of 4 litres. These vehicles cost a fortune even without the payment of duties. They are also ‘fuel guzzlers’ and have high maintenance costs.
Why do Ministers need these luxurious vehicles when most of them can easily use a smaller sized sedan-type vehicle to get from home to work and from work to meetings and social engagements?
Ministers need to travel in comfort but there is no need for such expensive vehicles costing tens of millions of dollars. Smaller, comfortable and classy sedans can work just fine.
Occasionally, Ministers will have to go out to the fields. Luxury SUVs are ill-suited for going into the farmlands or venturing into the trails which lead into Guyana’s interior. For such trips, you need double door pickups which can better handle the terrain.
Instead of spending $17M on a SUV for the Minister, a simple sedan with an engine cylinder capacity of less than 2 litres will do just fine with enough money being left back to purchase a heavy duty pickup for field trips.
There is a lot of talk about a green economy, reducing fossil fuel emissions and conserving on energy. It makes a mockery about a green economy when Ministers are using such huge vehicles to drive on perfect roads and, in most instances, for short distances.
The government has begun to reduce its carbon footprint by installing solar energy in Government buildings. On the other hand, there is no attempt to reduce the amount of petrol used by switching to smaller, handier vehicles.
The government should buy smaller vehicles for Ministers and have a fleet of pickups for when these Ministers have to undertake field work. This will save the Treasury a stinking sum each year and will set a good example for the public.
