Wage debt owed to public servants- Prime Minister

Prime Minister and First Vice President, Moses Nagamootoo speaking during a recent event said it is recognizable that Public Servants over the years have been demoralized largely because they were and are still underpaid.

“Over the years you have to be naïve not to recognize that the Guyanese public servants have been owed a wage debt and one had to be purposeful in approaching the issue of a wage debt in one year or fifteen months, it is a  left over…legacy,” he noted.

 Nagamootoo underscored the importance of salary increases, benefits and allowances, training and other concessions to motivating the public servants.

According to the Prime Minister, these and other incentives will assist the public servants to carry out their duties with dignity and not succumb to the legacy, where from birth to death one has to struggle to acquire a certificate in the public service.  He said “I believe that decentralization of the functions of the public service is also important if it is attendant to incentives that would encourage our public servants to go into the areas outside of the city …and to work with some level of satisfaction.”

He said it is government’s intention to reinvent a culture in the public service that would allow Guyana to benefit from the creative ability of all those who choose public service as a career.

Nagamootoo emphasized the need for the public service delivery and functions to be improved in the Commonwealth, with specific focus locally.

Additionally, he expressed gratitude to CARICOM for its recent decision to renew its mandate by offering training to senior public servants in areas such as emergency disaster preparation.