Latest update April 19th, 2024 12:59 AM
Mar 12, 2014 News
“If Mr. Jagdeo has an itch or toothache he will jump on a jet and fly to another country at workers’ expense.”
“There must be a limit for local care, with overseas care only available where such is not accessible in Guyana, and for which Mr. Jagdeo or any former presidents must pay some percentage out of pocket.”
“This is more than the average citizen receives. If this nation allows this continued abuse of the workers’ tax dollars, if Mr. Jagdeo has an itch or toothache he will jump on a jet and fly to another country at workers’ expense.”
“Mr. Jagdeo is called upon to provide this nation with a complete bill of medical expenses associated with his jet-hopping.”
These and other scathing opinions were expressed by the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) in a harsh statement issued yesterday in relation to the use of a Lear jet last month by former President Bharrat Jagdeo to seek medical treatment in the United States
“No sugar worker, public servant or tax payer must support this continued abuse of our money and all must call on their respective political representatives in parliament to effect this change which must remain hinged to the AML/CFT Bill.
“Mr. Jagdeo is called upon to provide this nation with a complete bill of medical expenses associated with his jet-hopping. As with the health care benefit for the President of the most powerful country (USA) and one of the wealthiest countries in the world, there must be controls and caps.”
On February 26 last, around 22:00hrs, Jagdeo was reportedly taken to the Cheddi Jagan International Airport where a privately-owned Lear jet hired out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida had landed. His entourage comprised best friend, Dr. Ranjisinghi ‘Bobby’ Ramroop, and his security detail. The flight left thirty minutes later.
This publication understands that the chartering of a Lear jet, from Florida to Guyana and back for a medivac, would cost between US$35,000 ($7M) and US$40,000 ($8M). This would be in addition to the thousands more that would be used to pay the hospital bill and other expenditure.
News of the late-night flight immediately sparked condemnation and reignited the debate over the controversial Former Presidents (Benefits and other Facilities) Act 2009 which Jagdeo himself had assented to. It allows those eligible to have virtually unlimited access to medical benefits, both local and international. The law also gives unlimited access to duty-free vehicles and payments for utility bills, trips, security details and other significant benefits.
GTUC made it clear that the situation must be seen in light of the current situation at the country’s state-run hospitals.
“The spate of health care deficiencies highlighted at the Georgetown Public Hospital brings into stark contrast the state of the average worker in need of healthcare and emergency medical attention and that of former President Bharat Jagdeo for whom a Lear jet was chartered to fly him out to Miami to be treated for Dengue Fever – a regular tropical condition prevalent in Guyana.” The union body made it clear that it was this sort of excess and the potential for much more is what makes that particular law in need of urgent review.
NO RESPECT, NO ACCOUNTABILITY
“The gross disparity of these two levels of care is a burden and embarrassment to this country. It is an insult and abuse of taxpayers’ money and can become a slush fund for beneficiaries where there is no limitation and control over the nature and quality of care.”
GTUC said it is made worse in a system where the government in power believe they have no right to account to the taxpayers of the country and where there is lack of transparency.
“That the Opposition has hinged the review of this Bill as a pre-condition to the passing of the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Bill is most welcomed by the GTUC and it is hoped that as the government signals compromise that the opposition stands firm.”
Jagdeo’s “lavish healthcare spending” can be least afforded by Guyana, a poor third world country struggling to boost and sustain legitimate economic growth and where sugar workers, public servants and others are clamouring for living wages.
“Not even in developed countries are such excesses permitted. Even more than before, the people of Guyana must ensure that these public officials stop this wanton expenditure of Mr. Jagdeo and give him the quality of care not astronomically above that which matches our country’s coffers and local health care system.”
According to GTUC, it must be pointed out that the Ministry of Health and the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) both have overseas medical care policies and no ordinary citizen would be granted permission or reimbursement for going overseas for dengue fever, a condition that doctors and nurses in Guyana may find less challenging, compared to their counterparts in Florida.
“Our past leaders both in the PPP and the PNC did not live such ostentatious life styles on the backs of the workers. We cannot ignore Mr. Jagdeo’s recent jet ride as a presumptuous act in defiance of Guyanese-expressed concerns for the abuse of our financial coffers which it presents.”
CAPPING
The union body recommended that in reviewing the Former President’s Benefit Bill, medical care benefits must be circumscribed to dictate where care can be accessed, under what conditions and, at what cost.
“These should take into consideration (that) Ministry of Health and NIS protocols for our donkey-cart economy cannot support a former President and his cohorts in a jet-propelled Cadillac seeking dengue fever care while our country’s public health care system is in disarray and our nurses are migrating, sugar workers are complaining, and public servants are caught in a web of employed poverty.”
GTUC found it shocking that the ruling party, the People’s Progress Party, could even be upset with citizens for daring to criticize the incident.
“To crown this off the PPP dare to be upset with the citizenry for being un-sympathetic to a man known for his brutish attitudes, draconian and corrupt rule that left this nation bloodied and gripped in fear. This is a young man for whom many expected different, having been nurtured under the PPP but given opportunities under successive PNC administrations. He was not denied. A young man who has brought the Office of the President into disrepute. His ordinariness, lawlessness, public abuses and disunity are now imprinted on the psyche of this nation.”
Adding insult to injury, Jagdeo “is now draining our coffers to live like a Hollywood/Bollywood star instead of a former President of a country ranked the second poorest in this hemisphere.”
GTUC was critical of attempts by the administration to “cover-up the Jagdeo’s healthcare squander-mania” with citizens being told that former Opposition Leader, Robert Corbin, and the late Member of Parliament, Sheila Holder, have been the beneficiaries of similar treatment.
“The Opposition is therefore reminded that when they beg for or take favours from a corrupt regime it comes back to be thrown in their face and compromises their positions as the nation seeks change.”
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