By Robert Andre Emmanuel
Information Minister Melford Nicholas is defending his administration’s decision to give a 200 percent increase in duty allowance to government ministers and a 14 percent salary increase, stating that the measures were long overdue.
Recent reports about the decision to give parliamentarians a pay rise were met with mixed reactions, with members of the opposition criticising the government for a lack of transparency on the matter.
The duty allowance, similar to the salary increase, was only confirmed publicly after a media report was published.
Speaking at yesterday’s post-Cabinet press meeting, Information Minister Nicholas said that the increases were justified.
“If you look at it from the standpoint in terms of responsibility that ministers of government have, and if you look at the hierarchical structure in all the ministries, where the ministers are at the helm…the emoluments fall way below by as much as 200 percent compared to other persons who are working in some of the [departments],” the minister said.
The increases were made as part of the 2024 budget which was approved by government Members of Parliament (MP)—who all serve as Cabinet ministers except for Deputy Speaker Sir Robin Yearwood—and Senators in December 2023, with little announcement on the new measure at the time.
Prime Minister Gaston Browne recently sought to defend the lack of transparency surrounding the adjustments, pointing to the 2024 budget where an increase was referenced.
However, a review of the 2024 budget estimates, under the non-established staff list, did not reflect this change in salary with all parliamentary positions retaining the same salary as listed in the 1994 law which has been referenced by the government.
Minister Nicholas sought to claim that increasing parliamentary salaries will always be a controversial issue, referring to Jamaica where Finance Minister Nigel Clarke was derided over his plan to increase parliamentary wages by more than 200 percent.
“We would have seen what happened in Jamaica and this is an issue that transcends our jurisdiction. I was in the Bahamas last June attending a [Caribbean leaders meeting] with the US Vice President and it was a subject of discussion among the Prime Minister of Jamaica [Andrew Holness], Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Mottley and the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago [Dr Keith Rowley].
“I thought that the government came up with the right approach to tag the increases for ministers with public servants, and I believe in my discussion with Prime Minister Mia Mottley back in June, that is what is already in place in Barbados, but the gap still exists where ministers are required to preside over aspects of the ministry where there are public servants who are in a better remuneration position than the ministers,” he said, calling this an “inequitable position”.