THIS IS A WASTE OF GOOD MONEY
October 8, 2015 | By KNews | Filed Under Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom, Source
The State is paying four hundred thousand local dollars every month in rent for building that formerly housed the Office of the Leader of the Opposition, but which is now being used to house two Presidential Advisors and their staff.
This is a messy arrangement. The position of Office of the Opposition Leader is a parliamentary position; it is not an Executive position, something that the PPP/C has inelegantly pointed out to the new administration. As such, there cannot be a simple switching of tenants from the Leader of the Opposition to Presidential Advisors. The latter are Executive positions. The control of this tenancy should be held by the Parliament Office and all trespassers should be asked to vacate henceforth.
Four hundred thousand dollars is good money in Guyana. This amounts to around $4.8 M per annum. You can put this money to good use.
The government should not be renting buildings. The government is the major property owner in the City. It should be able to find accommodation somewhere if it needs additional office space. There is no need for the government to be renting any building within the precincts of Georgetown.
There is over-staffing in almost every government department. There is underproduction throughout the public service. Space can be found for office space if the government concentrated on having a leaner government. Years ago the suggestion was made that position with the word Assistant or Deputy in front of its title should be examined to see if it can be made redundant.
The government should not be forced to spend four hundred thousand dollars to house two Advisors. This is uneconomical. It means that in addition to the multimillion-dollar annual salaries and allowances that these Advisors receive, an additional two hundred thousand dollars per month, has to be found to accommodate their offices.
Corporate companies are moving away from having to pay high rentals for their offices. They are reducing these overheads by allowing certain staff to work from home. They pay them a little extra too. The savings are enormous. Some of these corporate companies formerly had to rent office space in prime real estate areas. The rentals were exorbitant and were carried as an expense on the firm.
With the new work-from-home arrangements, these companies are cutting back on considerable expenditure. Those who have to work from home are also able to spend more time with their families. And reduce commute time and costs. It is a win-win situation for both employer and employee.
There is no reason why in Guyana, offices have to be found for every senior staff member including political Advisors. These guys should be allowed to work from home. If they are Advisors, they jobs are to advise, not to supervise and therefore there is no reason why they have to be provided with office space at taxpayers’ expense. They can be paid a little extra and asked to work from home. This will reduce, for the government, not only the cost of rentals but all the other costs, electricity, stationary, secretarial staff all the other expenses that go with financing offices of Presidential Advisors.
There is no need for the government to be spending four hundred thousand dollars per month in rental. This money can be put to better use.
The government cannot continue doing business the same way it was done for years. Times are changing. Systems are changing. The government should have had managerial Advisors. These management specialists would have been better able to advise the government on how to organize the bureaucracy to get more work done for less.
The new government is making too many simple and avoidable mistakes, too early in its term. It is not on top of the situation. It needs to get its acts together because its supporters are being embarrassed by the extravagant spending that is being revealed in the press each day.
