Kamla to get $43,000 if she wins By Andre Bagoo Thursday, May 20 2010
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A PAY cut proposed by UNC leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar, which was yesterday welcomed by economists, could result in a cut of the Prime Minister’s salary from $48,000 to $43,200 and in cuts in Cabinet members’ salaries from $33,000 to $31,350.
On Tuesday, Persad-Bissessar said under a UNC/COP-led coalition government, ministers would take portions of their salaries and donate it to a planned $100 million LIFE Fund to aid children in need of life-saving surgery.
Yesterday, economist Mary King noted that such a move by a Persad-Bissessar-led government would send a clear message that her administration aimed to curb the “wild spending” and the “squandermania” that has besieged the nation’s Treasury for the last few years.
“If Kamla Persad-Bissessar is trying to send a message to people across the country that if she should be so lucky to win the election, there will not be the wild spending that we saw in the past, the very fact that she is ready to start off in this way sends a very positive message that there will be no squandermania,” King said.
She noted that pay cuts for world leaders have been implemented across the globe in countries like Jamaica and the United Kingdom. King noted that this country has a clear need to curb expenditure, given declining resources. “We are also in a situation where our gas price is falling, our gas reserves are falling and as of now there is almost no potential for a sudden increase in wealth in Trinidad and Tobago,” she warned.
Persad-Bissessar’s proposal of a pay cut comes on the heels of a five percent ministerial pay cut ordered by new UK Prime Minister David Cameron, on his first day in Cabinet this month. It also comes after Jamaica Prime Minister Bruce Golding last year took a 15 percent pay cut, while Jamaica MPs took ten percent cuts.
Under the Constitution it is for the Salaries Review Commission to determine the level of State officers’ salaries.
According to the 89th Report of the Salaries Review Commission of July 2009, the prime minister gets a salary of $48,000, $7,500 duty allowance and $5,550 transport allowance. He or she also gets a $36,000 cash travel grant, and a maximum motor vehicle loan for $350,000 at six percent interest and a motor repair loan of $20,000 at six percent.
A minister gets a $33,000 salary (Cabinet) or $27,000 (non-Cabinet) plus subsistence of $1,600 and $10,300 housing allowance. The Opposition Leader gets a $33,000 salary, $4,900 transport allowance, $1,200 subsistence and $10,300 housing allowance. An MP gets a $14,000 salary and $4,100 transport allowance.