– wants baseline pension adjusted to 75% of public sector minimum wage
The Guyana Trade Union Congress (GTUC), in its proposal ahead of Budget 2024 next year, has made a number of bold recommendations, including the abolishment of the personal income tax, also known as Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE).
This came on the heels of a meeting held on Friday with members of the Government including Prime Minister Mark Phillips and Finance Minister, Dr Ashni Singh, and members of the Trade Unions of Guyana.
However, in their proposal where they mentioned a PAYE and tax rebate, the GTUC noted that personal income tax should be abolished. Additionally, they called for the minimum pension of the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) to be adjusted.
According to GTUC, “A comprehensive review of the NIS (should) be conducted with the view of having its minimum pension reflective of seventy-five percent (75%) of the state minimum wage.”
Another proposal by the GTUC was for the NIS unemployment laws to be activated and for a provision to be made whereby persons who are in between jobs can be paid unemployment benefits for a stipulated maximum time period. This, according to GTUC, would allow persons to sustain themselves with the basics while they look for another job.
The GTUC further proposed that the old age pension be increased to $50,000. The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government has been targeting the eventual increase of old age pension to $40,000 by 2025. In 2021, all old-age pensioners were given $25,000 on a monthly basis, and in 2022 that sum was increased to $28,000. This year, the old age pension was increased to $33,000.
Another recommendation was made for persons to be paid directly from the oil and gas proceeds, through cash transfer programmes. According to the GTUC, the World Bank defines a safety net as “the provision of assistance in the form of cash to the poor or to those who face a probable risk of falling into poverty in the absence of the transfer. The main objective of these programs is to increase poor and vulnerable households’ real income.”
When it comes to cash transfers, the GTUC also recommended property owners’ direct and indirect cash transfers through interest-free or very low-interest rate soft loans to improve and maintain their residences and immediate home environment.
“This will lend to the beautification of property, our communities, villages, and towns… a programme with a requisite fund (should also be) established to meet first-time homeowners where each person can be given the sum of $3,000,000 as a grant for the purchase of a home.”
Another form of cash transfer that GTUC recommended is to encourage citizens to invest in clean energy by implementing cash transfers for solar or wind energy and other sustainable development programmes.
In keeping with its Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) 2030, the PPP/C Government itself has been making key investments to expand its solar energy sources.
Last August, residents of Lethem, Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo), welcomed the commissioning of a $472 million one-megawatt (MW) solar farm that, in addition to providing reliable electricity, is expected to generate $137 million per year in savings.
Prior to this, residents in Lethem reportedly paid $80 per kilowatt of electricity, which is higher than that paid in Georgetown, given the cost of transporting fuel from the coastland.
In April last, a $625 million 1.5 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) farm was commissioned in Daag Point, Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), to provide clean, renewable energy to over 3000 residents of Bartica and its surrounding communities.
