Politicians’ salary hike sparks outrage in Diaspora

The salary increases granted to Jamaican politicians has sparked outrage in the diaspora with people calling for either a roll-back or a cut in the increases.

Dr Rupert Francis, head of the Diaspora Crime Prevention and Intervention Task force, said that the pay raises granted to the political directorate should be frozen and a committee be commissioned to review the increases and recommend a “commonsense package” that avoids public objections and is in the best interest of Jamaica.

“These increases cannot stand,” he said. Francis pointed to the fact that most members of parliament work less than 40 per cent of the time.

He said attempts at justifying the increases, such as attracting more qualified people to the political arena, do not hold water as the majority of parliamentarians are currently professional people.

He called the increases “unreasonable”, “irrational” and “unconscionable”.

Businessman and diaspora activist, Blaine Studdard, called the increases “an affront” and “abominable”. He said that he is in shock at the level of increases. Saying that it is disingenuous to say that there will be accountability after the increases, Studdard said that the salary increases should have been based on a performance-based metric.

He said another attempt at justification, that the increases were to bring the salaries in line with those of other politicians in the region, does not stand up as the salaries of the Jamaican politicians now exceed those of their Caribbean counterparts.

Studdard noted that the increases granted to others in the civil service, including teachers, police, as well as the minimum wage, fall way short of where such increases should be.

He is hoping that the Opposition members will not accept the increases and, if they do, that they give it to members of their constituencies.