…and sweetness
There was a letter in the press highlighting the super salaries of some executives at GuySuCo. It wasn’t surprising that it boggled the minds of the ordinary man in the street. But what was shocking was Cabinet claimed shock and promised they’ll look into the matter. “Look into the matter?” After a million Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the Sugar Industry – which presented its report to Cabinet – they didn’t know about these salaries?
The Cabinet also appointed a new Board of GuySuCo under the Chairmanship of Dr Clive Thomas, who – not so incidentally – is Chairman of the State Asset Recovery Agency (SARA). HE didn’t know about these salaries? Jeez! Their size clearly indicates a massive heist of State assets – and he missed this? Thomas also serendipitously happens to be an advisor to the President. He didn’t whisper anything into the President’s ear? Something is clearly rotten in the state of our PNC-led Cabinet.
Our Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo got into Office – and his own multimillion-dollar remuneration package – on the backs of the sugar workers of Berbice. And HE didn’t know? But that provides a clue, doesn’t it? It’s simply SHAME! The entire Cabinet – from the PM down to the most junior minister – had awarded themselves that 50 per cent salary increase. This teed off the Government workers – who they’d promised a “significant raise” – to such an extent they’re probably terrified to mention the abomination in salaries they allowed in sugar. Let sleeping dogs lie, nuh?
But now that the cover’s blown and they’ve promised action, how will they reduce these GuySuCo Executives’ salaries, when theirs are also in the stratosphere? And let’s not hear any talk about work performance. Has the Cabinet done any better at running the country than the Management of GuySuCo in running the sugar industry? Both entities have been run into the ground, that’s what!! And it’s clear both lots are absolutely clueless about turning around anything.
So what’s to be done? Well… what should’ve been done from the very beginning… and should be done henceforth when it comes to setting salaries. Tie the salaries of the Cabinet and the GuySuCo execs to performance. For GuySuCo execs, the yardstick should be production and profitability and for the Cabinet, the yardstick should be economic growth and budget surpluses.
If we don’t see improvement according to these metrics, then the way forward is clear – reduce the salaries of each category of executives to a multiple of ten times the salary of the lowest paid worker under their watch.
If they can’t live on 10 times the salary of a security guard, then how can that guard live?
…and the budget
Guyana went off wage controls some decades ago – except when setting minimum salaries. So what the Government does is to tinker with the minimum salary that is non-taxable. This year they’ve moved the tax exempted annual salary from $660,000 to $720,000 (which, not so incidentally is the MONTHLY salary of a JUNIOR Minister!!). But what does this really mean for the poor?
The rise in exemption is $5000/monthly. So at a 33 per cent tax rate, they’re saving $1650 monthly. Better than nothing? Well actually it’s worse than nothing. Because of the PNC-led coalition Government now moving a raft of items bought by the poor as survival fare – such as bread – from the “zero-rated” VAT category to the cruelly ironically named “exempt” category, those items will now cost several times that $1650!!
So the change for poor at the bottom of the economic ladder – which is from all classes and strata – has now been moved from “nothing” or zero to “negative”.
This is the new math of the PNC-led Government. “Less is more” and it’s supposed to make us “conserve”!!
…tax free
Nobody begrudges Prezzie and the Chancellor of the Judiciary their mega salaries.
But what happened to the Tax Reform Committee’s recommendation that they don’t have “tax free” status?
