Merely days after talks about an increase in Old Age Pension and the salaries of public servants surfaced from the main Opposition camp, the ruling party, the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) has joined the ‘bandwagon,’ stating that it will also deliver raises in that regard.During a press briefing yesterday, PPP Executive and Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy said that by the time the 2015 fiscal budget is presented,
Cheap Adidas NHL Jerseys, pensioners would see an increase in the Old Age Pension from $12,
World Baseball Classic Jerseys Outlet,500 to $15,
Chile Jersey,000.The Executive said that based on his party’s record in Government, public servants can also expect an increase in their salaries.Ramsammy’s statements trail promises by the main opposition party, A Partnership for National Unity and Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) to increase Old Age Pension and the salaries of public servants,
Cheap NFL Jerseys, should they be elected to govern Guyana.The recently formed coalition’s Prime Ministerial candidate, Moses Nagamootoo on Sunday, last told thousands of Berbicians that should the coalition be elected to office following the?May 11 General and Regional Elections, within 100 days in office,? APNU+AFC will institute a 10% increase across the board for public servants while the pensioners will start receiving $15,000 monthly.Nagamootoo’s statement was made at the party’s Whim, Corentyne Unity Rally where thousands poured in from near and far to show support for the coalition, which hopes to form the next unity government.Ramsammy at the press conference at Freedom House yesterday chastised the opposition for its proposed increases to public servant salaries and old age pensions.Focusing on alleged events which occurred over 20 years ago, the party executive claimed that during the People’s National Congress (PNC) era there was a “wage freeze” and certain conditions had to be met before senior citizens could have access to old age pensions.“On the matter of pension in Guyana,
NFL Cheap Jerseys, we have a record. We have removed the means test and we have increased the pension every year. By the time the 2015 Budget is presented, the pensioners would see their pension increased to $15,000 per month, because that’s based on our record. That’s what we do,” Ramsammy boasted to reporters.Focusing on history, Ramsammy said that the 10% promised to public servants by the Opposition should be considered because “our history is that one political party has frozen wage and salary increases, has not given wage and salary increases, and by their management of their country, caused the deterioration of the value of what they earned”.The PPP Executive told media operatives that the party has a record for 22 years, each year, of increasing public servants’ salaries.“We have never denied public servants an increase, not a single year in government from 1992 to now, and between 1957 and 1964. So whether it’s the recent record or past record,
Cheap Jerseys From China, we are consistent,” Ramsammy claimed.Annually, increases such as five percent have promoted protest and widespread condemnation in the government’s direction.In this regard, Ramsammy said “People may not be satisfied with the amount of increase, but we have never frozen salaries and we have never not given a pay increase. We have always done so. That’s our record. So when we say we will continue to increase public servants’ salary and pensioners’ payments, we base this not on just what we plan to do, we base this on our record.”This comes in spite of the fact that Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh had said that the APNU+AFC coalition has exposed its level of political desperation with its resort to utter promises of random “goodies”.“This is nothing short of a blatant attempt to bribe voters and is a gross insult to the Guyanese people,” Dr Singh said describing the increases.According to Minister Singh, what is worse is that the members of the APNU+AFC grouping have become notorious for inconsistency; offering a different set of “goodies” every time they speak.Former President Bharrat Jagdeo recently came in for stiff criticism after questioning wage increase pronouncements being made by the united opposition parties ahead of the upcoming 2015 General Elections. The former President, at Freedom House last Saturday, ridiculed statements made by Nagamootoo, who, with his APNU+AFC Coalition, is proposing wage increases for a public sector which the opposition insists has been badly beaten by the current Administration.Jagdeo was of the opinion that Nagamootoo had no idea what he was talking about, since he knows nothing about policy and
