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saturday, December 14, 2013 | guyanatimesGY.com
House pays tribute to global Finance minister clears air peace icon Nelson Mandela on budgetary allocation for wages, salaries
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Opposition Leader David Granger
Foreign Affairs Minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett
AFC parliamentarian Moses Nagamootoo
embers of Parliament on Thursday called for all Guyanese to follow the footsteps of Nelson Mandela as the House paid glowing tributes to the late South African president and peace icon, who passed away at the age of 95 on December 6. Saluting the anti-apartheid revolutionary and politician, Foreign Affairs Minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett said Mandela was a truly extraordinary individual who changed the course of South Africa from being bound by the cords of apartheid, laying the foundation for a democratic South Africa on the basis of equality, fairness, justice and respect.
ouring the life of Mandela, Minister Rodrigues-Birkett said “We” can all learn from the lessons Mandela provided throughout his life in the area of sacrifice, love and reconciliation.” She added: “As we reflect on his life, what he stood for, the ideals he embraced, (we should)… we not allow these written and spoken words to fall into a void but we should practically adopt the principles which guided his vision for a united nonracial and democratic South African…” As she continued to pay tribute to the renowned leader, she recalled that Guyana was among nations which supported Mandela and the anti-apartheid fighters of the African National Congress (ANC). “Guyana’s support was guided by the universal principles to which it has always espoused; principles of equality of people… and independence,” she added.
born. He taught us that good life for all can be attain if all of is people could be free.” Reflecting on past, the opposition leader said Guyana was integrally involved in Mandela’s life long struggle for liberation, pointing out that the government of Guyana was the first to pledge financial and other material assistance to the African liberation movement.
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Liberation
To have made such an impact, on the world, he was truly a man of all time; he was a leader who reached every strata of society, who demonstrated forgiveness and tolerance in the face of cruelty and injustice. “Mr Nelson Mandela continued his struggle for the true liberation of the people of south African while being physically imprisoned, but not mentally bound by the bars of his cell,” RodriguesBirkett said as she reflected on the life of the former president. Through his leadership, Mandela demonstrated immense capacity for consensus on nation building and reconsolidation, she said. As Guyana joins South African and the rest of world in hon-
Struggle for injustice
Opposition Leader David Granger also joined the foreign affairs minister in paying tribute to the legendary leader. “His life was committed to creating national unity, in a country which had been divided and segregated by racial and social discrimination and marginalisation,” Granger said in his opening remarks. He added, “Nelson Mandela’s life is a legendary lesson of courage for his struggle against injustice. He demonstrated that people had the powers to change the conditions under which they were
Giant of history
“It was the government of Guyana that constructed the African Liberation Monument in 1975, which is still standing; it was the government of Guyana that organised the international forum on the liberation of Southern Africa right here in Georgetown in 1981. Mr Speaker, we remember also today the fraternal bonds between the People’s National Congress of Guyana and the African National Congress of South Africa.” Alliance For Change (AFC) parliamentarian Moses Nagamootoo in his short presentation drove home the point for politicians to truly emulate Mandela. “If we are sincere, we have to do Mandela, we have be Mandela.” On Tuesday, world leaders joined thousands of South Africans in honouring the life of Mandela during a national memorial service at FNB stadium in Johannesburg. U.S. President Barack Obama said Mandela was a “giant of history”, tagging him the last great liberator of the 20th century.
oney allocated in the 2013 National Budget for revised wages and salary can only cater for five per cent increase across the board to public servants, since the budgeted allocation not only catered for annual increases, but also to offset all the new recruitments and other employment shortfall cost that are not budgeted for under the different agencies in the central government system. This was made clear Thursday evening in the National Assembly as Finance Minister, Dr Ashni Singh gave answers to a question posed by opposition Member of Parliament (MP) Basil Williams, with regards to utilisation of the $4.4 billion allocated in budget 2013 for revised wages and salary. Every MP in the House, including those on the government side is well aware of the fact that the budgeted allocation funds more than the annual increase to the public service, according to Minister Singh. Premature The question without notice, demanded that the minister provides a breakdown of how much of the money allocated for revised wages and salaries was spent under the following categories; increases in wages and salary, new employment and promotions. But, the finance minister noted that the question was mischievous since it could not have been intended to elicit a factual answer as the December salaries and retro-active payment for the over 30,000 people employed under the government system are yet to be commuted. He said that Williams’ questioning was therefore premature since it requires substantial data confirmation. He said that the oppo-
that this has been a practice enshrined in central government for a number of years, for the reason that it is difficult to predict which agencies would be recruiting, and in what numbers and when.
Finance Minister, Dr Ashni Singh
sition MP was well aware of this fact, and even if unfamiliar, others on his side of the House are aware.
Manipulated The minister pointed out that the issue of the revised wages and salary was regrettably being manipulated and misrepresented by the opposition side of the House, whose members are well aware of how the funding is used, since the line item, which falls under the Finance Ministry itself is carefully scrutinised by them whenever it comes up for consideration during the annual budget debates. He noted, that opposition MP Carl Greenidge as recently as this year, during the consideration of the ministry’s estimates and expenditure, questioned him on the allocation. Reading extracts of the line of questioning, the minister pointed out that he explained then, as he has always, that as a matter of policy, for each of the budgeted agencies, the amount made available for employment cost is what is required to cover those persons currently employed within the budgeted agencies. This means that any new recruitment is funded under the revision of wages and salaries, the minister said. He explained
750 more beneficiaries receive laptops
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ver 750 individuals on Wednesday and Thursday, benefited from three, One Laptop Per Family (OLPF) distribution exercises taking them one step closer to becoming Information Communication Technology (ICT) literate. The first exercise was held at the Concerned Residents’ Action Group, Golden Grove saw the distribution of 354 laptops to residents of Nabaclis, Haslington, Cove and John, Golden Grove and North Enmore. A similar exercise was carried out at the School of the Nations, New Market Street and targeted 253 residents of Lacytown, North Cummingsburg, Robbstown and Albertown. Beneficiaries expressed their gratitude to the government for this initiative. Fabina Bacchus, a teacher at the Sophia Special School said the laptop would not only benefit her, but the students under her charge as well. Trishan Macgregor, also a teacher was extremely grateful for his laptop.
Charity teen commits suicide after mother takes away her cellphone
A A section of the gathering at the distribution exercise in Golden Grove, East Coast Demerara
On Thursday, over 150 individuals benefited from a distribution exercise that was held at the Heavenly Light Church, Norton Street. All the recipients will benefit from a fiveday training session.
The OLPF programme is an initiative that was launched and pioneered by former President Bharrat Jagdeo in 2011. The vision of this programme is to equip 90,000 families with laptops and to expand the use of ICT countrywide.
General practise Thus, the general practice has been to reside in the Finance Ministry, an allocation (revised wages and salary) that funds across the board salary increases, the cost of any new recruitment, and the cost of other employment cost shortfall. The latter can arise, not only for recruitment, but also as a result of re-classification and promotion. “The explanation I tendered in April of this year is by no means new information, this House has been well aware of the use of the revised wages and salary for several years… this practice is rooted in a long-standing policy that for the simple individual budget agency, the national budget only provides financial allocations to meet the cost of posts that are filled at the time that the budget is finalised,” the finance minister said. During the course of examination of these estimates, questions are routinely asked on the numbers, designations, and salaries of each person to be paid under each item. The minister committed to provide in written form the information Williams requested and for Alliance For Change (AFC) leader Khemraj Ramjattan, a breakdown as to the categories of workers, recruited, and promoted. The opposition has using the revised wage and salaries allocation to help fuel public outcry against the five per cent wage hike for public servants that government indicated it would be paying.
16-year-old secondary school student at Charity Housing Scheme on the Essequibo Coast ended her life tragically, committing suicide early Thursday morning. Talia Da Silva, who attended the Charity Secondary School, became angry Thursday morning after her mother took away her mobile phone. After a heated argument with her mother, the teen reportedly locked herself in her bedroom and hanged herself. The tragic death of the student has sent shock waves through the Charity Housing Scheme, especially the secondary school she attended.