COP tells PM, Kamla to take pay cuts

THE Congress of the People (COP) is calling on the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar to take pay cuts.

In a statement on Thursday, COP chairman Lonsdale Williams said if Dr Rowley, Persad-Bissessar and other MPs should "take pay cuts like many of our citizens have been forced to until we are in a better position to share in the wealth which can undoubtedly be created with creative and innovative approaches."

Many people had developed "a shared sense of apathy," he said, because "They know that our leaders will simply ride out' the current storm and not deal directly with the problems at hand." Williams added, "This can lead to frustration, despair and a collective depression that comes out of a hopeless feeling of a squandered trust."

He was concerned that "the high violence rate can be linked to this condition."

According to the 98th Report of the Salaries Review Commission (SRC), Rowley and Persad-Bissessar receive salaries of $48,000 and $23,800 respectively.

Cabinet ministers, non-Cabinet ministers, ordinary MPs of the House of Representatives (who are not ministers or parliamentary secretaries) and senators receive salaries of $33,000, $27,000, $14,000 and $10,500 respectively.

Last October, Rowley said there were no plans to cut the salaries of government officials or members of the House of Representatives.

He said, "Those of us who genuinely serve the public and those of us who genuinely share what we earn with those we represent and those who we don't represent, we don't have a problem."

Rowley disclosed, "I spend between 15 and 20 per cent of my income giving to people who are not on the payroll."

The COP was one of five political parties that formed the now defunct People's Partnership (PP) coalition. The others were the UNC, Movement for Social Justice (MSJ), Tobago Organisation of the People (TOP) and the National Joint Action Committee.

The MSJ left the UNC-led PP government in June 2012, after expressing concern about a lack of transparency and accountability.

The PP was disbanded after it lost the September 15, 2015 general election to the PNM.