Former Senator Arni Walters (left) was presented with a Certificate of Appreciation from Minister of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, Ronald Jones, during a Democratic Labour Party St. George South Branch Meeting at the St. Luke’s Church Hall on Sunday evening.
Trudie Harris (left) collects her certificate from Minister of Education, Ronald Jones.
JONES CLEARS THE AIR
Tue, 05/31/2016 - 12:00am
‘Ministers, MPs are not getting a salary increase’
Under the law, no minister can get a salary increase unless the salaries of public servants are also increased.
Minister of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, Ronald Jones, made this clear recently as he dismissed the notions put forward by the Opposition Barbados Labour Party that two resolutions currently before the House of Assembly are aimed at increasing the salaries of Parliamentarians and Members of the Senate as well as Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries by ten per cent.
Addressing a Democratic Labour Party St. George South Branch Meeting at the St. Luke’s Church Hall on Sunday evening, the Education Minister told the gathering that in the period of 1976 and 1985 when the Barbados Labour Party headed by the late Tom Adams was in power, a special regime was created for the remuneration of Members of Parliament (MPs), which he maintained has remained intact. His comments came just moments after he presented several members of the branch with certificates in recognition of their contribution to the Democratic Labour Party during its 60 years of existence.
“He [Adams] said that the only time MPs would get a salary increase is when public servants get a salary increase, and the differential was created so that the Minister particularly would be a few steps above that of his Permanent Secretary… There has been no change since that declaration. All Ministers were working for less, because of the ten per cent, than their PSs [Permanent Secretaries],” he said.
Jones explained during the meeting that the resolutions are in fact aimed at restoring the salaries of the stated individuals to the levels they stood at in 2013, when Government took steps to reduce those salaries because of the fiscal constraints being experienced in the country.
“We brought the resolution and all parliamentarians including senators, Lower and Upper House, persons who work as personal assistants, all of those salaries were reduced. The programme in the first instance was for 19 months, when you didn’t get the movement that you had expected you extended everything by 11 months,” he said.
He also rejected the argument put forward by the Opposition that Government’s reason for restoring the ten per cent is so Ministers can get higher gratuities and pensions. He explained that public servants’ pensions and gratuities are calculated on their highest salary point, and as such, even if the ten per cent was not restored their pensions and gratuities would still be calculated on the figure they earned up to 2013.
“So you can dismiss that argument but the propaganda was to get the unsuspecting, to get to the ultra partisan, was to try to conflict and confuse the minds of people,” he stated.
Jones noted that as Government seeks to restore the ten per cent on salaries, steps have also been taken to bring other measures to an end including the consolidated tax which was designed to ease some of the “tightness” placed on citizens. He pointed out that the tax charged on the assets of credit unions has also been removed. (JRT)