They have done it again! Increased their salaries, a week after riots erupted in Honiara over the election of a new executive government many see as the continuation of the old regime which granted themselves exemptions from paying income tax during their last term in power.
The announcement this week that Parliamentarians will be getting a pay increase of almost 50 percent effective May 1st adds more salt to the wound that the Sogavare government is nursing from public’s distrust in his leadership abilities.
There is now genuine reason for people to be angry. The National Referral Hospital is continuing to face shortages in medicine and life-saving equipment. The wages of public servants have been stagnant for so long against high cost of living and there is a lack of infrastructure and reliable services to the rural people of the Solomon Islands.
Against a gloomy national picture, the country’s Politicians are living the high life. Apart from not paying their income tax, each of the 50 MPs also have access to $7 million dollars a year from a discretionary ‘slush’ fund known as the Constituency Development Fund (CDF), where they can use wherever and however they like without any mechanisms in place to hold them accountable. The funds have been the subject of discussion in the country as despite MPs having access to millions of dollars every year, there is yet to be tangible development from the usage of this particular fund as most projects in the rural areas are donor funded. The politicians are also paid a non- taxed terminal grant of 400,000 each at the end of their Parliament term.
The timing of this latest announcement could not have come at a better time as the new coalition government is yet to formulate its policy statements and plans of action. Already the public has viewed this as a negative sign, thereby the only acceptable solution to this would be a review of the salary increase or work at improving that of public servants. It is matter that should be taken with the uttermost urgency and consideration if the Government is to have any trust.
Apart from that, there is a need for transparency and the strengthening of good governance practices in the way the executive and bureaucracy carry out their job to effectively plan and implement policies that would benefit ordinary Solomon Islanders scattered across this geographical complex country. Politicians need to be aware of the needs of the people who voted them in and offer hope in their future.
The former executive failed to listen to the pleas for politicians to pay income taxes like ordinary Solomon Islanders during the duration of the last Parliament. Will it lend an ear to the call to have their salaries reduced and focus in general on improving the lives of every Solomon Islanders?
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Brian 