The PPP left crumbs for the public servants

In an attempt to justify the 7% salaries increase to public servants that was announced on 18th November 2021, and to try and throw water on the backlash coming from all across the country, Minister of Public Service, Sonia Parag made a public statement claiming that the PPP never promised a 50% increase to public servants. But that statement only made things worse for the PPP. During the 2020 General and Regional Elections, the PPP went on to lure public servants by putting up posters throughout the country stating 50% salaries increase to public servants. Not once did any member of the PPP come forward and disown the posters and state it’s claims to be false. They embraced it as being true and correct. And as such, no one can seriously attempt to further insult the intelligence of Guyanese by telling them that there was no such promise. The PPP’s announcement of a 7% increase in salaries for public servants is nothing short of a spit in the faces of the hard working public servants of this country. After giving no increase in 2020, this 7% is actually 3.5% for 2020 and 3.5% for 2021 to match the climbing inflation rate of 5.6% in June of 2021. That is the level of disrespect that the PPP have for public servants in Guyana. And to add insult to injury, the retroactive is taxable. But none of this should come as a surprise to Guyanese, because from day one in office the PPP have being directing monies to the private sector through one way or the next because that’s their primary focus, and I dare say their only focus.

It was back in 2016, when the then opposition leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, stood up during the budget debates and demanded that the government give a 50% increase to public servants. There was no oil money then, and the real GDP growth for 2015 was 3%. And for 2016 the GDP was 3.3%. The APNU+AFC coalition in 2016 went at length to make sure that even without oil money public servants were rewarded handsomely, while minimizing the income inequality among workers. The then, tax free retroactive, increases were as follows:

with real oil GDP in 2020 being 43.5%, and the half year report stating that real oil GDP grew by 14.5%, and with the inflation rate at over 14% in the price of food items, according to the half year report, the PPP brings a mere 7% to offer to the hard working public servants of this country. This is betrayal to the highest level. The truth is that after doling out tax payers’ dollars - directly and indirectly - to the private sector, the PPP is now left with crumbs for the public servants. And the trickledown economics that they follow have never and will never work. And as such economic growth will not be felt by public servants and the working class of this country unless there is direct transfer to them and not a system that depends on profit motivated individuals to share their wealth. And one sure way of direct transfer is to give public servants substantial salaries increases. And clearly that is not the path of the PPP. In closing one thing is clear, the PPP does not care about public servants and the working class altogether, their interests rest with the private sector and as such the vast majority of Guyanese will continue to suffer until they are removed from power.