St. George’s, September 3, 2012 – Government’s inability to pay public servants their August salaries is one of the dominant topics on radio call-in shows, as well as the commentary of internet bloggers.
An “update’’ on the salary payment situation has been promised early this week by the Ministry of Finance. There are reports that government is considering borrowing money from the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) to cover the payment of salaries.
However, complaints are continuing with many saying the government should have had a contingency plan in place and are laying the blame for the problem directly at the feet of Prime Minister Tillman Thomas and Finance Minister Nazim Burke.
“I wish the government would have seen this ahead of time and thereby come up with some innovative plan as to remedy this before now,’’ blogger Cletus Sylvester said on the website of radio station WEE FM.
“This government has its belly,’’ added another blogger, Errol Charles, who accused the administration of “inaction, impotence and atrocious fiscal mismanagement.’’
Gus Panchoo chimes in: “If Nazim is such a brilliant Minister of Finance, how could he not have seen the non-availability of funds in the treasury? Has he been joy-riding without a care also?’’
Peter Bishop, in a blog on Caribupdate News, said that should assistance be sought from the NIS, it would not be the first time a Grenada government is looking for a bailout from the National Insurance Scheme. He said it’s been done “many times in the past.’’
Hamlet Mark, a blogger and chief Caribupdate News commentator, has suggested that Burke should be relieved on the finance ministry portfolio.
“I would say in any other serious government in CARICOM,’’ writes Mark, “the Minister of Finance would not have a job on Monday morning. Not just merely because of this latest development – for it is only the straw that should break the camel’s back. But the Finance Minister would be without a government job because of the overall economic management of the last few years; the extremely conservative nature in trying to deal with all the challenges; and the presentation of an unrealistic budget this year that he knew coming in was a package not worth the paper it was printed on.’’
