Oh, to be the former president!

Much has been said recently about the Former President’s benefits, and really, there should be no argument that having served in the highest public office, he is entitled to a package that allows him to maintain a very decent standard of living. The issue, then, is not whether the former president should have a superior pension and benefits, but how these would impact on a country with limited resources at its disposal. Having served for just over ten years in the public service, he now takes home 220 times more than the average public servant who had to have worked some forty years to receive a meagre pension.  For a party espousing the principles of the value of labour in keeping with its communist philosophy, this has got to be the most glaring example of “do as we say but not as we do…” The People’s Progressive Party (PPP) government in the last days of the Jagdeo administration realized that because of its policies of hegemony and favouritism there would be a backlash, and sought to mitigate this by instituting certain bills that in all reality should never have been passed.  The Former Presidents’ Pension Bill is one such piece of legislation.  This has got to be revisited now that the PPP no longer has a majority in parliament. Just think, one citizen, regardless of what he may or may not have contributed, becomes the immediate beneficiary of a King’s ransom.  Does this even begin to make sense?  Any right-thinking person would immediately understand that there can be no justification for such an outlay by a country with our limited resources.  In the case of Jagdeo, this should never have been allowed as, this law, instituted under his presidency, should only have been available to Presidents coming after him.  Where in this world would you assent to a law that benefits you personally?  Of course, this is Guyana and anything goes. Just think about this: we have one man who lives alone in palatial splendour with an electricity bill at home that exceeds the amount used by some small businesses.  Does he have lights on in every room all the time and keep the air-conditioning running when he is abroad? How can a private residence run up a monthly electricity bill of some $300,000? Is there industrial manufacturing going on there? It is even more interesting that he seems to be more on the travel circuit than he is at home. But nothing new there!  This has got to be ludicrous.  He travels more than the sitting President and has the right it seems, with all he already gets, to foist this bill on the taxpayer, as part of his benefits package. How can he in all honesty justify this, even to himself?  Where has morality gone? The government protests when it is asked to raise the salaries of public servants by 5%.  A nurse takes home just around $60,000 per month, and it is expected that this will look after his or her needs and pay all the bills.  It is no surprise then that the former President opts to fly out to the United States for medical treatment.  Any reasonable individual in his position would be very worried to have those high-priced doctors attend to them knowing this. People at Linden lost their lives and others were injured when they protested against an increase in their electricity tariffs as they could not afford it, many of them were unemployed. But, here we have one man foisting on taxpayers, including those people at Linden, a monthly bill of $300,000 to electricity flowing to his house…strike that, Palace! Where has our sense of rightness gone?  We sit aimlessly by and allow this administration to hoodwink us like frogs under which the water boils, without realizing that each day they continue to force more and more heat up our rear ends. As a people we have got to see that this administration is taking more and more for themselves and their cronies and the Former President’s benefits package is just one glaring example that we must not allow to remain on our statutes. No true statesman, or person of high moral standing and deep regard for his people would have assented to this bill or would have affixed his signature to this bill, and we must understand from this that both Jagdeo and the PPP, who passed this bill, have only their own interests at heart. Every other Guyanese has to suffer while those closely associated with the PPP administration utilize the country’s resources for their own personal ends.  That Rohee can suggest that this is not exorbitant only tells us more clearly that they think we will believe any nonsense they tell us. Can you afford a $300,000 electricity bill every month?