The Tribune

By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

LABOUR Minister Shane Gibson wants executive salaries and compensation packages at all government-operated facilities to have Cabinet or Ministerial approval.

In addition, the Minister said a manpower assessment was requested for several public corporations, which he hopes will lead to an overhaul of the current operating system. That system, Mr Gibson said, has over the years grown out of hand, especially regarding payouts which in many instances were in line with the private sector.

He highlighted the National Insurance Board, which for months has been the subject of scrutiny after allegations over salaries and bonuses, among other things came to a head during the firing of Board Director Algernon Cargill and NIB’s Chairman Greg Moss.

It was during this period that salaries of executives, in particular, sparked public debate. According to Mr Gibson those at the helm of government agencies earn up to $100,000 a year, in contrast to portfolio Cabinet ministers with salaries of $66,000.

“When you look at National Insurance,” Mr Gibson said, “personally I think it got out of hand. In the past persons treated it like a private entity making hundreds of millions of dollars, paying out bonuses and high salaries and compensation packages and getting meal allowances and vehicle allowances.

“What they did was they compared them (government corporations) with each other for a while and then they started comparing them with the private corporations. When they looked at the private sector to compare the two (the comparison was made to) entities that were making millions of dollars. (The government corporations) are not making millions of dollars.”

The Minister suggested that the Board had been the single catalyst in sparking the governments plans to closely monitor other government agencies.

“Even if you look at BEC years ago BEC made a lot of money. But now when you look at the cost of electricity we really have to review the entire salary structure and see whether or not it is relevant compared to the kinds of money that the corporation is making or losing at this time,” Mr Gibson said.