Prime minister of Jamaica cuts pay - To give up 15% from his pocket

PRIME MINISTER Minister Bruce Golding has pledged to take a 15 per cent pay cut and called on his colleague members of parliament to sacrifice 10 per cent of their salaries as the Government prepares to table what promises to be one of the most difficult budgets in recent memory.

In an address to the nation Sunday night, Golding reiterated that the Government had been forced to take tough decisions as it crafted the 2009-2010 Budget within the atmosphere of a global economic meltdown.

Tough choices

"When the debate is held, we will outline the tough choices we have had to make and why we had to make them," the prime minister said.

In announcing his decision to take a cut in his $5,412,295.60 salary, he stressed that "those of us who lead will have to lead by example".

"Last year, I announced that parliamentary salaries would be tied to those of public-sector workers. In other words, parliamentarians can no longer give themselves salary increases higher than that granted to public-sector workers," Golding said.

"This year, not only am I forgoing the seven per cent increase that would have been due on April 1, but I will be taking a 15 per cent cut in my salary and I ask all members of parliament to join in this symbolically important example by taking a 10 per cent cut in theirs."

After becoming prime minister in September 2007, Golding received a salary of $4,706,344, which was subsequently increased by 15 per cent in line with public-sector workers. Golding's pay cut will shrink his salary to its original level.

On Sunday, Dwight Nelson, minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service, said all members of parliament from the governing Jamaica Labour Party administration have agreed to take the 10 per cent pay cut requested by the prime minister. If all 60 MPs move to the PM's beat, the overall reduction in parliamentary salaries would amount to about $20 million in savings for the Government.

Golding's admittedly symbolic gesture came after he acknowledged that among the tough choices the Government had to make was freezing public-sector wages at the levels which obtained on March 31. This means public-sector workers will have to forgo the increases due this year.

Other options

Golding stressed that the only other option would have been to lay off thousands of workers at a time when alternative employment was difficult to find.

He noted that accommodation would have to be found for some categories of workers, such as nurses, who did not benefit from the increases granted last year.

The prime minister explained that apart from interest payments which have to be met, the government payroll is, at more than $100 billion, the greatest charge on the public purse.

Golding also noted that while there were areas from which cuts would have to be made because of the anaemic economic environment, other critical portfolios would require more spending, not less.

"We can't cut back what we are spending to educate our children, fight crime, provide health care and assist the pensioners and the very poor," the prime minister.

New-look Cabinet

Vaz, Nelson and Robertson

Senator Dwight Nelson and West Portland Member of Parliament Daryl Vaz have emerged two of the big winners, while two former 'shining stars', Clive Mullings and Colonel Trevor MacMillan, were the 'losers' when Prime Minister Bruce Golding reshuffled his Cabinet on Monday.

While James Robertson was also added to the winners' circle, the curtain has come down on the Cabinet career of the ailing Derrick Smith.

In confirming the reshuffle yesterday, the Office of the Prime Minister indicated that Nelson had been rewarded for his good work with public-sector groups with a shift to the high-profile Ministry of National Security.

New Parliament building still on

The tight grip in which Jamaica has found itself will not prevent the Government from going ahead with plans for the construction of a new Parliament building.

Figures contained in the estimates of expenditure show that $50 million in capital funds have been given to the Urban Development Corporation for the construction of new houses of parliament.

The allocation is to cover the development of design and construction documents, preparation of an architectural plan, the conducting of an architectural design competition and the establishment of a construction contract.

Prime Minister Bruce Golding in September said the Government would acquire parcels of land in proximity to Gordon House to construct the new building.

Holy Family gets behind Ashley

Gunshot victim's mother thanks school for support

"This must never, ever happen to another Jamaican child." That was the common plea Wednesday morning as parents, teachers, students and other well-wishers gathered at the Holy Family Infant and Primary School on Laws Street in downtown Kingston to bring support to Ashley Anderson.

The eight-year-old has been left in a vegetative state since September last year when she was tragically hit in the head by a bullet at the gate to her home. The bullet is now lodged in her skull and the fragments scattered in her brain.

Government belt tightens

$548b: Global economic meltdown forces Budget cuts in real terms

The Golding administration on Tuesday made the first step towards keeping its pledge of austerity management this fiscal year, presenting a budget that, in real terms, is about four and a half per cent below what the Government spent last year.

The $548-billion spending package that Finance Minister Audley Shaw tabled in the House of Representatives is nominally $48 billion, or eight per cent more than the $508 billion that was the revised figure for the 2008/2009 Budget.