– as Jordan threatens 15,000 public workers with joblessness
It seems to us at least that Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan is seeking to outdo his colleague Vice President, Khemraj Ramjattan in making outrageous and outlandish statements. The Finance Minister, according to a November 10, Demerara Waves’ report is reported to have said that the “…government is employing at least 15,000 persons who really should be sent home…”.To contextualize the Minister’s statement, the report of the Public Service Commission of Inquiry advised that there were 14,466 persons employed in the Public Service in 2016. In essence, it appears, the goodly Minister is saying that Government may reduce, whether in part or in whole, state employment in excess of the entire public service.
According to the report, the Minister said that the removal of the workers would allow the Government to offer better compensation to its employees and reduce taxation. It is a short-sighted approach if it is really being considered by the Administration. It serves to demonstrate, yet again, that the Coalition is only focused on dollars and cents and is either completely aloof or unconcerned about the real troubles that would not only beset workers and their families, but their communities, state institutions such as the NIS and the GRA, and the economy as a whole. It appears the Government has not really learnt anything from its disastrous sugar policy. Already, the NIS has signalled it is facing difficulties resulting from a reduction of employment in the sugar industry. Further reduction in employment would only complicate and worsen the situation.
The touted dismissal of 15,000 State employees comes after the Government has already sent home some 7,000 sugar workers. That decision, the Minister said, according to the news article, was “extremely painful” though public sentiments and actions by the Administration does not indicate this to be the case. Though now nearly three (3) years have gone by since the mass retrenchment exercise in the sugar industry began, the Government, at its highest levels, have not seen it fit to engage the workers. It has not ventured into the villages and communities to see how these Guyanese really face. It has not even crafted the slightest policy to ease the woes and troubles of these citizens of our nation. It has not even offered the smallest of assistance from the State. For us, it is hard not to say that history will not repeat itself though on a grander and sadder scale.
In continuing his incredulity, the Minister pointed out there are “…some lackadaisical public corporations”. If indeed there are lackadaisical corporations, as the Minister alleges, then he should not divorce himself and his colleagues from the leadership installed at these agencies. The Minister goes on to mention specifically the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) and the Guyana Sugar Corporation Inc (GuySuCo) which presumably, using the Minister’s yardstick, belongs in the lackadaisical grouping. Of course, while we are aware that both entities have their specific difficulties, to deem them lackadaisical is an insult to all the hard working men and women employed by those entities.
In relation to the GPL and the GuySuCo, the Minister is quoted to have said “[m]ost of their expenditure is financed by government and until we can get rid [of those companies], some way or the other, or make them largely efficient, that is like a permanent albatross of expenditure on the government”. The statement by the Minister is yet another clear indicator that the current, now-a-day caretaker Government does not have the interest of the workers and their families at heart or even in mind. The caretaker Administration, it appears, is ready, without any second-thought, to put onto the chopping block the electricity and sugar companies. In the case of sugar, the Minister’s expressions are far different from the perspective of President David Granger who said, during a visit to Albion Estate last June, that sugar must not only survive it must thrive. The President was quoted as saying, according to a Government statement,“[w]e were always interested in the success of GuySuCo and felt that this was the financially prudent course to pursue”. It is hard not to conclude that the President, at least in June, was of the firm view that the state-owned sugar company, as it currently stands, would remain in the arms of the State.
Certainly given the mixed signals being sent out, our anxieties are furthered heightened bearing in mind already the Government-approved $30B bond has not really been used to bring about meaningful changes to the miniaturized sugar industry. In fact from our interactions with GuySuCo, we have learnt that the President’s commitment to have the proceeds of the bond released to the industry remains, at this time, unfulfilled. It is recalled that during his Albion visit, the President said in relation to the bond proceeds “[t]hat money is coming to GuySuCo… [w]e are going to ensure that that money comes in a timely manner and in sufficient amounts”.
It appears, to us, that the Government is laying the ground work to set the industry up for failure. Certainly, we can find no other logical reason or rationale for the current approach to the sugar industry. Seemingly, the Administration, if it succeeds to secure a second term, will come with crocodile tears in its eyes and sympathy in its voice and say it is faced with no choice than to rid itself of sugar and destroy the livelihoods and well-being of thousands of Guyanese. This exercise will go a long way to meet the 15,000 job reduction the Finance Minister has in mind.
According to the report, the Minister said that the number of state-owned companies has been reduced “…from more than 100 to a small number…”. The Minister should ask himself how many of those state enterprises remain in operation today. The reality is that many faltered and their employees were the biggest victims. This is very much evident especially in the bauxite industry where state support continues to be provided to those who were affected. The reality is that the neo-liberal economic model has not lived up to all its hype. We urge the Minister to pay attention to what is taking place in Chile at this time.
According to Jose Miguel Ahumada, a political economist and associate professor at the University of Chile, the country is “one of the most unequal countries in Latin America”.As described by The Washington Post, while the last three decades of neoliberal policies made Chile “one of South America’s wealthiest countries, with inflation under control and easy access to credit”, they also “created stark economic disparities and strapped many Chileans into debt”. The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) states, that 1% of the population in Chile controls 26.5% of the country’s wealth, while 50% of low-income households access 2.1%. Additionally, according to National Statistics Institute of Chile, while the minimum wage in Chile is 301,000 pesos, half of the workers in that country receive a salary equal to or less than 400,000 pesos.Protesters interviewed by Reuters said they were struggling to make ends meet because of the high costs of part-privatized education and health systems, rents and utilities, and a privatized pension system has been widely rejected by Chileans because of its low and often delayed payouts. The Minister, as a Guyanese patriot and leader, should not advocate policies and programmes that could well see Guyana treading down Chile’s path and bringing about misery and hardship.
