GENERATION 2000 (G2K) has stated that in the interest of accountability Prime Minister Simpson Miller must provide the public with a full outline of the job descriptions, salaries and benefits of all of the government's consultants, advisors and assistants.

“The politics of benefits and spoils going to party loyalists continue to plague us in this our 50th year as a nation,” declared G2K president Floyd Green.

“In order for us to move forward, transparency and accountability must be our goal. While we acknowledge that governments will, from time to time, need to look outside for scarce expertise to satisfy particular needs, it is unacceptable, given the current economic challenges facing the country, to be paying such high salaries for the wholesale hiring of party functionaries and supporters,” he said in a release today.

Green urged the Prime Minister to “impose an immediate freeze on the hiring of all consultants, advisors and assistants until the list is provided and a review is undertaken by each Permanent Secretary to ensure that new personnel are not simply duplicating the roles of other public servants."

G2K is also insisting that the Government indicate how the performance of “these highly-paid consultants and advisors” will be reviewed to ensure that the country receives value for money.

Green warned the Government to be very careful not to betray the trust of the Jamaican people, especially public sector workers who are “presently carrying the burden of the Government’s recent wage freeze and punishing tax package”.