Shadow Minister of Legal Affairs, with responsibility also for Labour, Mr. Roysdale Forde, SC, is blasting the Irfaan Ali administration for not only paying workers a meagre sum in an oil producing economy, and having no serious plan to address the high costs of living, but also for taxing the increase. “When you look at eight (8 %) per cent in an economy where essential items have increased exponentially, the stingy government is paying workers 8 % in one hand and taking back 33 1/3 % in taxes from the workers with the other hand.” Workers are not better off under such conditions, he declared.
Forde recalled when the A Partnership for National Unity and Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) government paid workers retroactively it was always tax free. According to him, the least the Ali government could have done is likewise. Further, he said, while the government is taxing ordinary workers, the president and ministers’ salaries are too increased by 8% but theirs are tax free. “This is widening the gap between the rich and poor which is no doubt deliberate.”
During the coalition government wages/salary increase for 2015 was 26%; in 2016 it was 10%; in 2017 it was 9%; in 2018 it was 8%. In 2019, persons earning under $100,000 per month received a 9% increase while those earning between $100,000 and a million dollars per month received 8.5% increase. The retroactive pay was all tax free.
During the four-year period wages/salary increased by 77 %, a fact the coalition touted as the highest increase in minimum wage in Guyana’s history. The coalition also drew distinction between itself and the PPP as represented in table below .
“Scattershot or on-the-spot announcement of the promise of jobs for photo opportunities is not good enough. There is need for a national vision and plan to create equitable and equal opportunities for citizens based on want and ability. The Ali government continues to demonstrate the absence of requisite knowledge or interest to create opportunities and betterment for all Guyanese.”
Forde said he is further concerned- apart from the disrespect for the right to collective bargaining which cannot be underscored- the uncaring attitude of the Ali government to alleviating the cost-of-living burden will result in increased poverty.
The shadow minister told this publication he observed the president in a recent visit in the Leopold Street area advising young people to go and enroll in a two-week training course to be employed in the government’s home-building drive. Forde said this type of spontaneous decision-making or promises is not sustainable and suggests those in government are not giving careful thought to what it means to be in government and the role of government in people’s lives.
After hearing the president’s remarks, Forde said, he was prompted to ask: “What about those who are not interested or cannot function in the area identified; what about those who are qualified in different fields of competence or want to pursue a different career path. What are the opportunities available to them?” These are some of the issues and the complexities of human development the Ali government has not turned its attention to, informed the member of parliament.
The shadow minister warned things will not get better for the poor and workers if the government continues to manage the affairs of state with blinders on and is devoid of a national focus to ensure all have access to, can meaningfully participate, and benefit from the nation’s resources. “This is not happening.”
The World Bank, in its October 6, 2022 Fact Sheet, stated that whilst the economy is expanding at an extraordinary rate poverty is increasing. According to the Bank, Guyana’s national poverty headcount, the share of the population living below US$5.5 a day, is among the highest in the Latin America and Caribbean region at around 48 percent.
