6.5% of G$100 is the equivalent of G$6.50; and 6.5% of G$1,000,000 is equivalent to G$65, 000. I begin this week’s column, Lies Damned Lies and Statistics Part Four, with that e ample since the machinations, in recent weeks and days by, particularly, the political opposition leaves much to be desired.
I would like to qualify this position by juxtaposing two occurrences this past week and tie them back to the narrative of the deceptive nature of statistics and the need for competent scrutiny of the spending of Guyanese people’s money. That said, on Monday last there were Two Financial Papers voted and approved by Members of Parliament.
The money under scrutiny totalled some G$26.5 billion dollars and with two weeks to go before the end of the financial year, the MPs did raise some questions, as to the timing of the approvals and the administration’s ability to spend. I am not digressing because while there was heavy focus on, for example, $29,000,000 for MARAD as a fuel subsidy to secure eIective sound bytes, a short and seemingly inconsequential document was tabled, seemingly unnoticed.
Having listened to the Office of the Leader of the Opposition in its final press conference before the much anticipated Christmas Holiday and season, and the proverbial tears shed by the People’s National Congress Reform (PNC/R), I am left to wonder—as I am sure many Guyanese, if not already, should now question—if those tears were not in fact ‘Crocodile Tears’ were out of Insincerity or Incompetence?
That presser was hosted by the PNCR/Chairman, who was accompanied by the Economic Advisor to the Opposition Leader, Aubrey Norton, himself absent from that briefing and appearing only ‘Online’ for Monday’s session in the House.
In condemning the justifications by the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C), there was not one mention of the fact that each Member of Parliament, including the opposition members were in fact also getting a 6.5% increase in their pay, confirmed in the very document tabled. Having ju taposed these facts I am now left to wonder if the opposition is now saying that the 6.5% raise in pay for MPs, both in the Opposition and government was not enough for elected leaders, or too little for public servants.
Both categories of workers paid by OUR ta es got the same 6.5% increase, which brings me back to my opening statement before concluding by briefly exploring another. Think about what the 6.5% increase means for your G$100,000 salary, and a Member of Parliament whose salary stands at G$1,000,000.
Remember, 6.5% of G$100 is the equivalent of G$6.50; and 6.5% of G$1,000,000 is equivalent to G$65, 000. There are numerous adages across the globe that speak to hiding things in plain sight, especially in books but statistics are a whole other ball game. When the coalition took Office, one of the first acts in power was to increase their own pay, much in the same way that was done this week.
On that occasion, it took intrepid reporters at the Stabroek News, some weeks, to discover the information hidden in plain sight.
That revelation led to stirring public debates, not only over the level of the increase but the nature of how it was supposedly hidden from the public.
It wasn’t, it was hidden in Plain Sight long before Monday. Even if 32 MPs in the political opposition were to shoot themselves in the foot to claim ignorance, to come days later and lament a 6.5% increase for public servants and not even mention their own personal increase in pay to REPRESENT THE PEOPLE’S INTEREST, then that can only be interpreted as disingenuous. This time around, the opposition Members of Parliament and the political opposition cannot claim ignorance of the increase.
Senior Minister within the Office of the President, Dr. Ashni Singh, made sure of it, when on Monday, just before the opposition focused on which vehicle was getting gas from you which ministry and the age of the vehicle, Dr. Singh, at the Beginning of the 70th Sitting of the House tabled what appeared to be a seemingly innocuous document.
The document tabled by Dr. Singh,was that of a Ministerial Order, the “Ministers, Members of the National Assembly, and Special Offices (Emoluments) Order 2023.
The Emoluments Order of 2023, stipulates that commencing January 1, individuals falling within the specified categories will experience a 6.5 percent augmentation in their respective salary rates, benchmarked against the rates as of December 31, 2023.
That obtained shortly after Dr. Singh, announced that 54,000 individuals would realise an additional $7.5 billion in disposable income annually, facilitated by a uniform 6.5% salary increase for public servants. President Irfaan Ali had also recently disclosed increments specifically tailored for certain sectors, such as teachers, health professionals, and members of the discipline services. Against the backdrop of the foregoing, either the sincerity or the competence of the present political opposition, when it comes to the nation’s Financial AIairs, has to be questioned. The Economic Advisor to the present opposition Leader Mr. Aubrey Norton, was proud to articulate his lineage to the Late great Dr. Ptolemy Reid but this, again begs the question about sincerity and competence.
Mr. Robert Corbin, one of Mr. Norton’s living predecessors had once publicly said that when Financial Papers for large sums are approved as late as two weeks left in a year, it was simply a matter of fi ing the books since most of the actual money being talked about was already spent. Until Ne t Week, as we await some clarification from the opposition camp.
