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By Ralph SeeramIt’s an old political trick, you want to take a certain course of action, or implement policies that may be controversial, and you leak the information to the public to get a reaction.A reaction the APNU/AFC coalition did get and it was not a pleasant one; even hardcore government supporters were outraged that they had even considered such a possibility so early in their administration.After making all those campaign promises of increased pay for public servants, reduce VAT and a host of other pledges in their first 100 days, naturally folks were looking forward for the fulfillment of those promises. So naturally when they floated the idea of vast increases for themselves,Steve Atwater Denver Broncos Throwback Jersey, and no concrete statement on the 20% increase for government workers, the public was not prepared to accept that, and voiced publicly their disappointment at that.To their credit the Granger administration took a hasty retreat while acknowledging that the President and Cabinet Ministers salaries need “adjustment”.I would be the first to acknowledge that present pay structure for the President and Cabinet Ministers and indeed all Parliamentarians need to be revised. The problem is that it should have been low down on the priority list.That was not the expectation of the people that put them into power. This was a Public Relations blunder for the Government. One of the teething problems with this new administration, is they don’t seem to be coordinated in their message. Ministers give conflicting statements,Adam Joseph Duhe Dolphins Throwback Jersey, to a large extent this may be due to the fact that they are trying to be honest in expressing their opinion.This may be a good thing, as the previous administration, through Roger Luncheon had their message centralized, but as those in the media know, Luncheon was all semantics and no substance; the man could never answer or would never answer a straight question.One of the arguments floated out to justify the increased pay,Buffalo Sabres Throwback Jersey, is to avoid corruption. In other words if you pay well, Ministers will not succumb to corruption.That argument is a double edge sword,Johnny Pesky Red Sox Throwback Jersey, it assumes that a potential Minister is pre-disposed to corruption and only a decent salary would prevent or reduce the possibility that he can be bought. Again to his credit, the Granger administration passed legislation to fine and jail Ministers guilty of corruption.Now here is the problem with that argument. There is an old adage that every man or woman for that matter has a price. Here is an old example, which was made into a movie some years ago.You ask a husband with no great financial means, to consent to have sex with his beautiful wife,Mike Ditka Bears Throwback Jersey, the answer will most likely be a resounding no. Now if you offer him a million US dollars to sleep with his wife, well that changes the picture, the question here is how many men you think will say no.Guyana is still a poor developing country with an abundance of wealthy resources, so foreign investors or companies seeking to exploit our resources or seeking lucrative contracts, offer a “poor” politician a quarter million U S dollars for some “favours” and “concessions”; what you my readers think he will do?The reality is foreign companies and investors cater for bribes as a cost of doing business in Third World countries. They do that for a reason. They know officials in countries like Guyana can be corrupted- well to be honest, even in the good old USA politicians can be corrupted. There are former Governors, Congressmen and Senators in prison at the moment for corruption.One of the sensitive issues for the APNU/AFC coalition during the run up to last May elections was the fate of the sugar industry. Earlier reports emanating from the then opposition was that they were in favour of “downsizing” the industry, if not close it down. Of course they had to back track on this position.Now that the APNU/AFC coalition is in power, they have to deal with the REALITY of the situation, and it is not pleasant. The PPP has been hiding the truth from sugar workers, and has been unable to arrest the haemorrhaging toll that Guysuco inflicted on the Guyanese taxpayers.The question is how long can the economy afford to subsidize the sugar industry? They are going to be many arguments as to the role sugar played for the economy past and present and the economic impact it will have on the workers.Look,Atlanta Braves Throwback Jersey, most countries in the West Indies, including Trinidad got rid of the sugar industry, for the simple reason,Michael Irvin Cowboys Throwback Jersey, they cannot compete on the world market.The truth is Guyana cannot compete on the world market; sugar is being produced or sold at about a third of Guyana’s production cost. The truth is sugar in Guyana has been subsidized for years by the Europeans,Dan Hampton Bears Throwback Jersey, and that is coming to an end. The truth is, hard decisions will have to be made, and quickly, either way it is not going to be popular for the present government.So what is the solution, long and short term? Well, President David Granger has appointed a Commission with experts to find a solution. Economists are going to debate and disagree on the solution.Should the industry be privatized? That is an option if you can find buyers. If the industry goes into private hands, you can expect a leaner work force producing more.One of the things I am so surprised of is that Guysuco has never given serious thought to diversification. Guysuco has vast amount of agricultural lands already irrigated; arable land if you may that can be easily converted to other crops, long and short term, plus fish farms.The industry has certain built-in infrastructure that can make the transition into other agricultural endeavors easier and cost effective.This should have been done by the PPP maybe 10 to 15 years ago. But no one wanted to touch the “sacred cow” for political reasons.Now the proverbial “ball’ is in the court of the Granger administration, only this time he is in a more difficult situation; any decision he makes that reduces the industry labour force, like closing factories,Dallas Mavericks Throwback Jersey, will be met with cries of discrimination by the opposition PPP, as most of the sugar workers are their supporters, despite the PPP knowing the truth.Unfortunately it’s Granger’s job to not only bell the proverbial cat or tiger but a stampeding elephant that is dragging the economy down with it, Billions of Dollars in subsidies.While we are on subsidies, I am aware that many Ministers are taking a pay cut from their lucrative jobs to serve as Ministers, but it’s too early to ask taxpayers to subsidize your pay cut with increased salaries; you have not earned that yet. Taxpayers need to see how you perform. You don’t get a pay increase when you start the job, it’s based on your performance.Of course Ministers knew the salaries before they decided to take office, so don’t complain about low salaries now. Most PPP Ministers got by very well on low salaries, look at their houses, now don’t ask me how they got by, just read what I said earlier about the husband and wife.Ralph Seeram can be reached at email:[email protected] Facebook.