Latest update April 18th, 2024 12:59 AM
Nov 04, 2018 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom
Parliament can be bewildering. Imagine the Minister of Public Health could have provided the sums which the PPPC spent on medical and dental expenses for its Ministers, between 2012 and 2015, but did not indicate the value of the insurance premiums which were paid for medical coverage for its Ministers.
Instead, the public and the House was regaled with stories about how the medical expenses of the present Ministers have not burdened the Treasury since May 2015. But is that not why medical insurance is paid: to prevent or reduce the amount charged directly both to the policyholder and, in the case of Ministers, to the State.
Why would anyone take out an insurance policy for Ministers of the government, most of whom are over or close to sixty years of age? The premiums, even for a 50% coverage, must be prohibitive. It would seem to make sense to simply pay the cost of the medical bills of the Minister.
They should be entitled to that benefit. The President and Ministers of the government are the elected representatives of the people. They represent the public face of your government to the country and to the rest of the world. You cannot, therefore, be miserly when it comes to ensuring the health of your President and Ministers. You have to take care of them.
There is no need to make a fuss about Ministers having to go overseas for medical treatment. If that is where they have to go then so be it. They are the representatives of the people and their benefits should befit their office.
There is no need to make a fuss about dental treatment. All over the world, including in Guyana, dental care and services are super expensive.
Ministers should have medical benefits paid for by the State. That should not be questioned. What is needed is for full accountability for the expenses incurred in providing such treatment.
The public needs to be told just about the total premiums paid under the insurance coverage which the Ministers are said to have, to whom it has been paid, and what is the extent of the coverage.
It is good to learn that the PPPC ran up a US$500,000 medical and dental bills over a three-year period. It is well known that the bulk of that money was spent on one man who died before recovering.
Parliament this last week finally approved the G$2.4 billion dollars, representing just about five days of the total expenditure of the State, to pay severance to sugar workers. It is a relief that the money was finally approved but it is a disgrace, one that sugar workers will never forget, that politics had to be played with the workers’ pensions.
The government’s decision to pay the severance in installments is shameful. The monies should have been budgeted in the first place. The sums were known, so there is no conceivable reason why it could not have been incorporated into the 2018 Budget. It was degrading to sugar workers to have to wait so long for something to which they are entitled. There can be no justification for the actions of the government. They were callous when it comes to paying the workers their entitlements.
The proposed budgets for the constitutional agencies have reportedly been slashed by 90%. It should have been slashed by more. There is no need for some of those constitutional agencies. They serve no useful purpose in modern government.
The Rights of the Child Commission, Human Rights Commission, Women and Gender Equality Commission, Indigenous Peoples’ Commission, Ethnic Relations Commission, Public Procurement Commission, Integrity Commission etc., should all be disbanded. They have made very little difference to governance since their establishment. The Police, Public and Teaching Service Commissions have all failed miserably, to ensure political neutrality and the independence of the police, public service and teaching services. These service commissions are abnormalities inherited from the British system of rule and should have long been dismantled.
What is disappointing is that far more money was not provided to the Auditor General, so that he can better do his job. Instead, the budget requested for his office was cut. But you will bet that this year, the Ministry of Finance will establish its gym and sports club at the old GNCB Sports Club.
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