Dear Editor,
I read with some dismay in the Guyana Times of the Hamilton Greene Pension Bill. I was shocked at what was outlined as the contents of the bill. There were some questions that came to mind after reading the article.
1. What were the benefits he enjoyed after demitting office in 1992 after serving for eight years as a Prime Minister?
2. What was his pension after 1992?
3. What are the present assets of Mr Green and its value?
4. Mr Green is 82 years old, if he lives to be at least 92 (or more) the National Treasury will be paying out 5,800,000 to this one old man alone! If he is already living a life of luxury, what will he do with all this money in another ten years?
Now here are my thoughts on the issue. First of all, I must say that I support some form of a package for this gentleman, something that will make him live a comfortable life, however this package should not make him a millionaire in one year at the expense of the tax payers. His assets should have been valued and maybe a percentage of what he has now could have been given to him to make his life better, bearing in mind this is an 82-year-old, way past the heyday of his life.
I could be wrong, since I do not know what were the benefits he enjoyed as a former Prime Minister, but I am certain whatever pension he received then (post 1992) would have been liveable, I am sure the government of his day would have made provisions for a liveable allowance for their top personnel after they would have demitted office. If that was not something the then government had thought about, it is not fair that 24 years later, the present government is going all out to ensure that this individual gets the same pension (7/8 of the annual income) that the present Prime Minister will receive when he demits office.
All of that being said, here is why I have my reservations about this pension bill; Mr Green would have had a long and fruitful life. He has certainly done his part. Was there any time in his life that he was not paid for what he did? As a teacher, my annual income is ,120,956 without tax, when taxed; it will not even reach a million dollars per year. It is the same tax that drops my annual income to below one million dollars that helps to build this 82-year-old gentleman’s pension and other benefits to over twenty million dollars per year! Where is the fairness in this?
Mr Minister, this situation makes me think of the scenario of the rich taking away from the poor to get richer. May I remind you that my vote helped to put you and the Government in Office? I think it is time you stop playing payback and focus on providing us with ‘the good life’ that swept me off my feet in May of 2015.
Sincerely,
W Moore
