“APNU+AFC is the most expensive Govt of our times – Chris Ram” – that was the headlines of a KN article in October 2017, Anand Goolsarran was “alarmed at the extend of the increases” it was followed closely by “Bloated Costly Government” comments by our “independent” Private Sector Commission.
These were the sentiments expressed by several persons and organizations about the size and cost of the Coalition Government – the matter of Ministerial salary increases quite rightly engendered a lot of public debate and criticism.
So it is very surprising that the PPP government has now surpassed the cost of the previous Coalition government, and not one of our “good governance and accountability” advocates have raised a single word of concern.
It begs the question – why was it so egregious under the Coalition government, but acceptable now under the PPP government?
But don’t take my word for it – let’s do the math!!!
ANNUAL TOTAL COST OF MINISTERS AND CHIEF WHIP (source – Parliament Office)
$
1 Prime Minister 34,540,148
1 Vice Presidents 24,077,254
18 Senior Ministers 427,215,582
4 Junior Ministers 84,225,204
1 Deputy Speaker 3,693,828
1 Chief Whip 3,693,828
2 Parliamentary Secretaries 6,869,064
ANNUAL TOTAL COST 584,314,908
NOTE: the above excludes the costs for the dozens of ministerial advisors – since to date the country has not been informed on their remuneration packages – when totalled, the cost of this PPP government will be – astronomical, yet our Private Sector gave the PPP government an A+ for their first 100 days in office.
In Guyana, when it comes to politics – the old adage “What’s good for the goose is good for the gander” does not apply.
