Chris Ram is a good man and a national asset

but instead of educating the public with reason, common sense and real-world perspective on this issue

he is engaged in pandering and illogic of the worst sort

ego perhaps

smfh

Vice Presidents should earn an amount slightly above the Presidential Pension and above any other ministers and including the Attorney General. Some Animals are worth more than others.  Lower the Presidential package or red cap it and adjust the others accordingly and comparatively to other Caricom members.

Listen to this SHAMELESS DAAG. He was licking Ram's Kaka for 22 years NOW suddenly Ram is now no good.  These BASTARDS can be bought with Pennies any hour of the day!!!

Dude...ease up on the personal attacks...

Ray, People like Redux is worst than a Jew selling secrets to Hitler.  No brain, no humanity, no sense of right vs wrong. I can go on and on but you warned me already.

And Ray, I hope when dat idiot Redux  TRY to insult me you will be aware!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Even their own agrees that the increase is ludicrous.

Well...he didn't do so here

Point taken.

Guys, this is a serious matter. Ease up on the insults.

The Cabinet probably thinks it's better to do this now and face the heat rather than to wait close to election time.

Is it true that Anil Nandalall was paid more than Sam Hinds?

Mitsee. Mitsee. Mitsee.  Ease up on your spin zone illogical inconclusiveness.

It is as simple as. You take the salary increase now, you get paid for almost five years.  You take it near to election and you lose the election - you get katahar. 

And don't spin us out of the zone with Nandlall and Hinds.  This is not about them.

This is about Sam Hinds and Anil.  What ever they got Nagamootoo and Basil Williams should have received.  The PPP would have set a precedent, that they would have to justify.

Its INCREASES of 50% which is unacceptable, given that civil servants were confined to a much lower increase.

This is about them and Rohee is included. This is no spin. Don't you agree that President's Pension / Compensation should be used as the base for the adjustment?

Don't focus on the PPP boys.  They are not running the country.  Focus on the people who are running the country now.  The ones that you fought so hard to put into power.  Keep a close eye on them!!  The one who was elected as President is dead asleep at the wheel.  He should be your problem.

The afc/apnu licking their chops, money money and mo money. 

The salary adjustment reference point should be Past President compensation and his pension, the Vice President(s) and the Attorney General. Either you adjust from the top down or bottom up.

The President is not my problem. So what was Nandalall's and Hinds's compensation? Do you think that the Vice President should earn less than the Attorney General?

Salary increase designed to ensure parity in Govt structure

By Kiana Wilburg The recent salary increases for Members of Parliament (MPs) are not exorbitant said Minister of Governance, Raphael Trotman, yesterday. In fact, he believes it is “fair.”

Minister of Governance, Raphael Trotman

He said, too, that the increases were necessary to address certain disparities in the salary structure in the three arms of the government the Legislative, the Executive and the Judiciary. Finance Minister, Winston Jordan, told Kaieteur News on Tuesday that the salary increases for Ministers and Members of Parliament were necessary for three reasons – to outline an income for Vice Presidents which did not exist before, to correct anomalies in the payment structure and finally, because the work load has increased. Jordan said, “We inherited a system where the President was receiving a salary of about $2M non-taxable. The Prime Minister was receiving a taxable salary of some $1.5M while the Attorney General, the Chancellor and the Chief Justice were receiving $1.6M. “There was no allocation for Vice Presidents; this position did not exist under the PPP. But the Senior and Junior Ministers were receiving the same pay of about $579, 000.” He continued, “It is clear that there are huge anomalies there. The President, Prime Minister and AG are receiving massive salaries and your seniors and juniors are at the same level, one-third of what the Prime Minister was receiving. Nowhere in the Caribbean does such a system exist.” The Finance Minister had explained that for Junior Ministers, the $579, 000 was increased by 12 ½ percent while for senior Ministers it was increased by 50 percent. As for the Vice Presidents, he said, they received a 60 percent increase on the $579,000. He noted that the $1.6M salary for the Attorney General was increased by five percent while the Prime Minister’s salary was increased by 10.7 percent. The Attorney General, until now, was earning more than the Prime Minister. But even with the increase, the Prime Minister will take home less than the Attorney General who pays no taxes. He confirmed that President David Granger stands to benefit from the increase since his salary will be raised by five percent. The salary increases were published in the Official Gazette of September 25. The report listed Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo’s salary as now $20,580,000 per annum, while the salary of every Vice-President was listed as $11,135,064. Cabinet Ministers’ salaries went up to $10,439,124 per annum while the Junior Ministers were entitled to $8,346,492. To those who are incensed by the salary bumps, Trotman said yesterday, the administration is not numb to their concerns. He said, “Trust us. You trusted us with government on May 11 and we ask you to continue to trust us and believe in us.” He made those statements, among others, as he was grilled at length on the issue during a post Cabinet press briefing. This newspaper reminded Trotman that when government took office it lamented that the economy was slowing down, the Consolidated Fund was in heavy overdraft hence major increases for certain public sector workers were not possible. He was even reminded of statements made to the effect that government has no apology to make about the increases. Asked if he would concede that this was indeed a political misstep for the government, Trotman skirted around the question. He said, “Let me correct something, government never said it has no apology to make for the increases, the press I believe quoted the Minister of State, Joseph Harmon who I think was asked to give a comment at an event… and I think perhaps, he was caught off guard but it is not necessarily that he was misspeaking but just perhaps giving an opinion.” Trotman said the fact that Ministers have engaged the press on the matter of the salary increases is proof that they are not hiding. The Governance Minister was then pressed for his response to the concerns of the ordinary man who is earning $50,000 a month meanwhile, he and his colleagues are raking in over $600, 000 a month plus benefits. “Well, we say to the Guyanese people to trust us…I think if you were to do a comparative study of the salaries of Government and Judicial officers throughout the region, you would find that these are in no way, above or far from what is the norm. I believe that the Finance Minister actually gave the reasons for the differentials…There is nothing excessive,” he said. Minister Trotman is of the opinion also that what may be escaping the attention of the public is the fact that the Leader of the Opposition got a “sizeable” increase and so did every MP. He disclosed that there is a proposal currently before Cabinet to give consideration to former MPs of all the parties who had served over the years. “Many of them get a pension in the sum of $20,000 from the Parliament and we are looking to address some disparities that exist. We hear the concerns of the people. We are not numb to it but we ask that they trust us so that we can bring that good life to them…” Asked if government couldn’t wait a little longer to make the increases, Trotman said, “There is no part of the world where increases in salaries for politicians have gone down well… it is not a popular decision to take. In some countries it has led to riots but we believe it was necessary.” “Of course 20/20 vision tells you that the time was perhaps wrong or right but in a matter like this, there is no such thing as the right time because other events overtake you and there is no such time perhaps as the present.” The Minister of Governance reiterated that the government never hid the fact that the increases were coming. He emphasized that they were inevitable.

Increasing salaries is not the answer!

It does not take a rocket scientist to discover that the government has erred for giving a large increase in salary to ministers at a time when the economy is sputtering. Neither does it take a rocket scientist to know that the timing was wrong and that the government has just handed the PPP more ammunition to shoot back at it. The issue has become an explosive topic in almost every household both at home and in the diaspora. The fact that some ministers are insensitive, arrogant, and aloof and are not grounded with the masses does not bode well for the government. In fact, this is the perception which the government should debunk. That the government is naïve and that many of its supporters are upset and disappointed, is to state the obvious. They want to know what could have influenced a large increase in salary for ministers and parliamentarians. Many who have supported this government are expressing their disapproval and are saddened and worried about their future. Some are silently protesting in tears and are wondering if they voted for change or an exchange. The people are aware that the Ministers should be rewarded for the sacrifices they have made and for the changes they have brought about, but they felt that it was too early for them to have such huge increases in salaries. Many are disenchanted because there is no justification for it especially when they have just given the workers a smaller increase in salaries. The increases should have been incremental and this would have been seen in good light by the masses. It may or may not haunt the government forever. But it is pointless for the people to fret because some ministers believed that they were entitled to the salary increase and that there will be no rolling back. Many have claimed that they have joined the government to become poorer but they did so of their own free will. They should know that they are the servants of the people. Some have said that it is all about power, prestige and entitlement. It should be made clear that no one is against an increase in salaries for the ministers but it should not have been shrouded in such secrecy. Could Guyana’s donkey cart economy afford such lavish salaries at this time? Lest we forget, these were the remarks by some when they were in opposition. However, the government must be lauded for its courage for sticking to its plan to recover the alleged stolen public assets by the previous administration and for the outstanding work by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Carl Greenidge to quell the fears of Guyanese on the border crisis. But it does not negate the fact that additional policy measures are needed to be identified and implemented to improve the economy to avoid a recession. The recent visit to Toronto, Canada, by some Ministers to persuade Canadian businessmen to invest in Guyana is essential to improving the economy, but is not enough to produce sustainable economic growth. First, the government has to create a proper business climate for investors. Second, it has to quell the perception spread by the PPP that it is anti-business. And third, it is too costly for Ministers to travel to North America with the hope that they will succeed in getting foreign investment. They should appoint a council of economists and qualified business personnel to lead in that direction. They should travel only when it is certain that a deal is made. That aside, the government has to create jobs, fix the crumbling infrastructure, reduce poverty and crime and improve the economic growth rate which is now below one percent to a sustainable level that would translate into jobs for the youths who make up more than 60 percent of the voting population. Failing this, the electorate will not be forgiving.

Yes

Glen Lall just had 40 million in a tax break.

Yuji, you LIE.  I just checked on this and it is not TRUE.

He needs a colonoscopy in the mouth for a good clean out.