Westmoreland Custos expresses concern about political directorate’s pay hike

WESTERN BUREAU:

Reverend Hartley Perrin, the custos of Westmoreland, has expressed concerns about the extent of pay increases allocated to members of the political directorate.

On Tuesday during the Parliamentary sitting, finance minister Dr Nigel Clarke announced a mammoth salary increase for the political directorate, which included an over 200 per cent increase for himself.

In an interview with The Gleaner yesterday, Perrin, pastor of the St Peter’s Anglican Church in Petersfield, Westmoreland, stated that the salary increase is excessive.

“What concerns me, and concerns a lot of Jamaicans at the moment, is the extent of this salary increase. Many workers have been encouraged to accept 10 per cent, and 15 percent, and when we look at the fact that some persons are now receiving 100, 200 and perhaps even 300 per cent, it goes against the grain of things,” said Perrin.

“Politicians have to be very careful because they should realise that if they pay themselves in the way that they do, persons are going to look on and ask the questions, ‘Why are you taking so much, and giving us so little’,” added Perrin.

Perrin is suggesting that the Government reverse the pay hike, which has left many public servants unhappy. He said if, or when, the local economy becomes buoyant, they could then consider a pay hike.

Another pastor, Elder Walter Walker of the Hopewell Missionary Church in Hopewell, Hanover, who is also a justice of the peace, told The Gleaner that the massive pay increase stated by the finance minister is one of the most disturbing announcements he has ever heard in his entire life.

Walker said that he is also concerned that it is sending the wrong message to the general populace.

“Last night (Tuesday) when I watched the news, I felt so hurt in my gut, I felt so hurt,” said Walker.

“My view on this is that it is just another major area that contributes to the instability in Jamaica, even the crime and violence,” he said of the massive pay increase for the political directorate.

According to Walker, just recently, he was talking to an associate about a teacher at a prominent high school in Kingston who decided to walk away from the profession and migrate to the United States, following the recent increase in teachers’ salary, which saw her getting only an additional J$2,000, despite being a university graduate.

“The police could do better in their work, but they are underpaid, doctors, nurses, and I could go down the chain. But these decisions that the Government has taken towards their salary is another thing that only causes more problems in the country. They are not helping the country,” Walker lamented.