Int’l Press Freedom Day 2024: Jamaican Information Minister lobbies for better pay for Guyanese Journalists

– says will ensure higher quality of reporting

As the world observed Press Freedom Day 2024, Jamaican Minister within the Office of the Prime Minister, Robert Nesta Morgan has advocated for an increase in salaries for Journalists across Guyana.
According to Minister Morgan, implementing this could result in a community of well-paid Journalists dedicated to ensuring accuracy in their reportage.
“If you are very ill and you need a doctor, how much money would you pay that doctor? So why is it that we are trying to find the cheapest Journalist to hire in our Government services to disseminate some of the most important information…we need to pay our Journalists more,” he highlighted.
Furthermore, he expressed that the consistent lack of acknowledgement experienced by Journalists was not only prevalent in Guyana but worldwide. He stated that people only recognise the importance of communicators during times of catastrophe.

“The only time people see communicators as important is when there is a crisis, but the best communicator is the one who prevents a crisis from taking place, we must stop the problem before it becomes the problem,” he declared.
Meanwhile, the Minister within the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), Kwame McCoy agreed with the sentiments of the Jamaican Minister and expressed that Journalists could be assured of better days that would soon come.
“As we continue to do our work and remain committed to our task, which is making sure that we continue to pursue the development of our country through our professions, better days will come and better days indeed are ahead,” McCoy added.
Lending his perspective to the oil and gas sector in Guyana, he stated that the Government has recognised that this was the beginning of great things ahead for communications workers.
Additionally, he assured his Jamaican counterpart that the revenue made from the oil and gas sector in Guyana would not only benefit the citizens of Guyana but countries such as Jamaica and others in the Region.
“The wealth that will flow from the production of oil and gas is not for Guyana alone, but it will also be for the Region. We truly believe that the Region has a share in what we do and that is why you see us continuing efforts that will benefit all of the peoples in the region, we have to be our brother’s keeper,” he said.
Since coming to office in 2020, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government has made concerted efforts to improve the lives of Public Servants and Guyanese as a whole.
Among these measures was the payment of more than 23 per cent across-the-board increase to Public Servants since taking office; the restoration of the one-month tax-free year-end bonus to the Disciplined Services totalling more than $1 billion per annum and other measures.