As a little boy, when I stole cookies in the presence of my younger brother and sister, I had to share with them because they would threaten to tell my mother. Of course I would take the lion’s share. That memory came back to me when I noticed the ten per cent payout to the public servants. The public servants got the ten percent, but the government Ministers and the President got the lion’s share. A public servant earning $120,000 a month would get an increase of $12,000.
However, the Ministers who receive $1.1 million per month would get $110,000 per month. The Minister would get a cheque for $13.2 million in retroactive payments at the end of the year while the public servant would receive $144,000. President Irfaan Ali with a basic salary of $2.9 million per month would receive a cheque for some $35 million. There is talk about the ten percent being applied to all his allowances to the extent that his cheque would be close to $70 million.
What was surprising is that the government lauded the payout and indeed it should. The boys would get a windfall without dipping, surreptitiously, into the treasury. Magicians fool people in this same manner with the result that the people go home happy, not at being conned, but because they thought that the magician was good. In this case they also didn’t see the trick, so they feel that the government is good. The people who most need the money would be getting a pittance while those who really don’t need it would be getting a windfall.
The previous administration concentrated on narrowing the gap between the rich and the poor. It gave a greater increase to the lower scale. The then President David Granger did not take any increase for the four years he served. Not so with this crop of leaders. The rich are getting richer. Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo made the comment that the Opposition Leader was also getting the increase. However, this is not money for his living expense. A lot of it is being spent on helping the less fortunate and on party business.
And the cleverness of the government does not end there. Over the past few weeks, it granted contracts to whoever applied. Many of these people have no experience or previous history to execute the contract. They also have no equipment. No problem. The government knew that its supporters would be the main beneficiaries.
These neophyte contractors invariably have to go to the PPP supporter who has the equipment. The talk is that if the contract is for $15 million, the PPP subcontractor would know the contract sum, tell the awardee that he would undertake the contract for $12 million. The contractor then pockets $3 million for doing nothing. Many are happy with this arrangement. They do not see themselves as conduits for the government to its supporters.
At a recent press conference, Member of Parliament Ganesh Mahipaul said that these people are being used. However, when someone is not used to having money, even the crumbs appear to be a bonanza. So, the charade continues. There is no end to the subterfuge. Vice President Jagdeo decided to lash out at former Finance Minister Winston Jordan because Jordan was critical of the policies of the government.
Jagdeo made bold to say that he taught Jordan. He also said that Jordan had nothing to do with the national budgets while he, Jordan, was serving in the Finance Ministry during the tenure of the previous PPP administration. Jordan responded that nothing could be further from the truth. He recalled that Jagdeo was unable to even write a line in the budget presentation.
As he told it, Jagdeo could not even write a profile when asked by Carter Centre. Jordan had to undertake that task. Then there was the need to write the policies of the government into the budget speech. Jagdeo couldn’t. That task fell to Jordan who later said that Jagdeo never made a contribution to any of the fifteen budget speeches presented in the National Assembly.
There is a lot to be said about the administration. Gold production is drastically down. From the heady days of some 700,000 ounces the production has slumped to 240,000 ounces a year. Why? Because the focus on reducing gold smuggling is not there.
Then there is sugar production. The Granger administration had rightsized the industry by closing the inefficient sugar estates. The government returned to power and decided that it was going to reopen the estates. Billions of dollars have gone into the exercise but there has not been the corresponding increase in sugar production. In fact, even the severely reduced targets have not been met. But the expenditure continues. And to crown it, the sugar workers have been given pay increases. This is a case of paying people to under produce, but who cares?
The money is coming from the government coffers. The only people to feel the squeeze would be the Guyanese people and their children. Similar sums are spent in other areas. The money goes into constructing roads that collapse mere months after completing. It goes into major projects that are nowhere near getting underway. Many of these projects are languishing and are there for all to see. It’s only time before vines and moss take over these projects.
