00:00Hefty increases proposed by the Salaries Review Commission in their latest report
00:05are being given the thumbs down by one member of Parliament.
00:09The SRC recommended it, it did not mandate it.
00:13So the government can choose whether it takes the advice of the SRC or it can choose, you know,
00:19I am saying any person with the smallest bit of conscience or common sense will stop a minute.
00:26The lowest income earners right now in the country, they have gotten no raise
00:31or if they have gotten any, we are talking about minimal raises,
00:36the highest income earners based on this SRC report now stands to get a fat increase.
00:41So common sense would tell you that maybe a little bit of restraint will be good here.
00:47And MP Ramboli will be walking the talk if the opportunity arises.
00:52I am not in favour of it and if this SRC report laid in the Parliament is debated
00:58and it has to go to a vote, if it has to go to a vote, I will be voting against it.
01:03He says members of the public and more so the recipients of the tens of thousands of dollars a month increases
01:10need to ask themselves one critical question.
01:14Do they deserve it? Are they working?
01:16Can any member of the government satisfactorily stand up with confidence and say,
01:22listen, I deserve that pay rise at this point in time because I am performing well
01:27and all is well in Trinidad and Tobago? And the answer to that is clearly no.
01:32Could the Minister of National Security get up and say that crime is under control?
01:37I am the line minister.
01:38The Prime Minister's salary if approved will go from $59,000 per month
01:44to $87,000 per month with $1 million in back pay,
01:48while most of the public are struggling to survive with a mere fraction of that, the MP laments.
01:55So if now is not the time for such an increase, when is the right time?
02:00If you have largely outstanding negotiations, which negotiations settled satisfactorily,
02:08I think where you can have the lower income earners seeing that their dollars stretch
02:16in terms of they being able to manage their rent, their vehicle, or if they don't own a vehicle,
02:21their transportation costs. I think if you can see that, you know,
02:24children are able to access the basic amenities, their parents can afford that.
02:28If our basic standard of living for the lower income earners are such that they are living comfortably,
02:35I'm not saying that they are living rich.
02:37If they are living comfortably, I think that is a good place to start.
02:41Ravishree Tamwari, Rubna Rai, TV6 News.
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