Fake news: Guyana’s President didn’t get a salary increase
The Guyana government Wednesday labelled as “patently false,” a media
report that President David Granger had awarded himself a salary increase.
The Ministry of Finance in a statement said that the report by the
on-line publication, Citizens Report, on Tuesday, was false.
The statement said that had there been an increase in the President’s
salary, there would have been a corresponding increase in the pensions received
by the three ex-presidents, namely Bharat Jagdeo, Samuel Hinds and Donald
Ramotar.
“If Citizen’s Report was not so bent on causing public mischief, a quick
check of the pensions of any of the three ex-Presidents would have shown that
they have remained the same since 2015.
“The Ministry wishes to remind readers that it is Mr Jagdeo who caused the law governing Presidential pensions to be changed to 7/8 of the salary of the current President, instead of 7/8 of the salary of the President at the time he demits office,” the statement said.
The Ministry of Finance said it is unfortunate that as the country enters
the elections season, “the issue of a well-deserved increase in wages and
salaries for public servants, who, under the PPP/C (People’s Progressive
Party/Civic) administration, were financially impoverished and subjected to
poor working conditions, should be twisted into a blatantly false claim.