Avellon Williams
GEORGETOWN, GUYANA- Salaries, and wages for sugar workers in Guyana have been raised by eight percent.
At a recent press conference, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo said the Cabinet made the decision on Thursday.
According to him, the government continues to invest in the sugar industry, which was closed under the previous administration, placing more than 7,000 sugar workers and their families on the edge of hunger.
President Mohamed Irfaan Ali announced last month that public servants, teachers, members of the disciplined services, constitutional office holders, and government pensioners would all receive an eight percent retroactive raise.
A pay adjustment was also announced for junior ranks of the Police Force, Prison Service, and Fire Service.
As the government makes these commitments, several other measures have been implemented to improve the disposable incomes of public sector workers and Guyanese in general since August 2020.
Among these are the payment of a seven-percent increase across the board in 2021; the restoration of tax-free year-end bonuses for disciplined services totaling more than GUY$1 billion annually; pension payments to senior citizens were increased by 40 percent from $20,500 to $28,000, resulting in a pension payout of more than $21 billion; among other interventions, public assistance payments were increased 55 percent from $9,000 to $14,000 monthly, providing total annual income support to beneficiaries of the program of more than $3 billion.
There are also notable incentives like the restoration of cash grants for parents of school-age children, totaling $6 billion in direct cash transfers, and an increase in the minimum wage for private sector workers by 36 percent to $60,147, in accordance with the tripartite committee’s recommendations.
As part of its efforts to mitigate the effects of the rise in living costs, the Government had also removed the excise tax on fuel, capped the freight charges used to calculate import taxes, provided fertiliser and other support to farmers to boost food production, and provided cash transfers to especially vulnerable communities.
