Mr Editor:
I said this before, and I will say it again: Government needs to stop cutting our civil servants’ salaries and do the following to cut expenditure –
1. Reduce the salaries and allowances paid to members of the House of Assembly by 20%. The kind of work they produce suggests that they are overpaid.
2. Get rid of the Health Authority, Water Authority and Port Authority. A waste of money. Get rid of all the Boards. Tourism Board etc. Why pay so many people so much money for doing nothing: allegedly between $1000 to $3000 a month to sit at meetings allegedly one hour per month. That doesn’t make sense. Paying people, on the various Boards, allegedly a minimum of $1000 per hour could only happen in Anguilla where proper control over public expenditure is seriously lacking.
3. Cut back on the high salaries paid to employees of these money-wasting Authorities. The salaries are ridiculously high. Then there are some people getting huge pensions and still getting two and three other salaries from Government. An alleged case in point is that of a retired senior public servant who is getting a huge government pension but then ends up on one of the Authorities/Boards where he/she allegedly makes something like $18,000 a month. Then he/she allegedly acts as the head of the said Authority/Board thereby allegedly netting an additional $12,000 acting allowance per month. So, all in all, this big wheel allegedly takes home close to $38,000 per month while many of our young people make nothing – go jobless. And on top of the total salary package etc, the big wheel allegedly gets a 25% gratuity which is a type of pension. In summary, he/she allegedly gets four payments: (a) a pension from Government; (b) the salary of his/her substantive post in the Authority/Board; (c) a big acting allowance; and (d) a 25% gratuity, a type of pension. This is alleged disgraceful situation should not continue any longer. The money that officer is allegedly paid could pay some six civil servants a month, so when Government is cutting staff it got to make sure it cut right. Before you send six lowly-paid civil servants home, first send home those big boys who are milking this country dry. It is unfair practices like the one I have just described which are a major reason whyAnguillacan’t balance its budget. The reason why Bellingham has to send his expenditure cutters.
4. The island-hopping by Government officials has to come to a prompt end. These officials go, they come, and we are none the wiser and no better off. So why waste money which our island can’t afford? We got to show Bellingham that we are doing something to solve our economic woes – to cut down expenditure – or else a lot of our civil servants will be sent home when the British financial officers come here and take over.
Now to Cap Juluca. Acquire? Forget it. You got to be out of your head. Where is the money coming from to pay for it? Which Government business ever runs properly and efficiently? The Chief Minister has got it all wrong. For the benefit of our people, our country, he needs to make every effort – even if it means getting on his knees – to ensure that the hotel remains open. Anguilla needs it. There are too many of our children going hungry.
That’s all for now.
Another concerned citizen
(Published without editing by The Anguillian newspaper.)
