The prime minister's gesture of taking a 15 per cent pay cut, and directing other parliamentarians to do a similar thing, is more symbolic than substantive.

Their salaries are a relatively small percentage of any given budget. Persons who work in upper-tier jobs - whether in the private or public sector - are not only sustained by the salary, but by the additional benefits that accrue to them, whether by entitlement or by access through political leverage.

'Benefits' supported by gov't monies

Some of these benefits include paying one's cellphone, landline and electricity bills; provide multiple modes of transportation for all members of the family whether local or international; underwrite birthday parties and individuals' social calendars; and support personal assistants and 'consultants' who do little more than collect a cheque.

These are just some of the 'benefits' that are being supported by government monies, and are not subject to question or scrutiny. Indeed, the myriad ways in which the government coffers are more like a sieve than a safe are yet to be revealed.

Curbing waste

If this government is indeed interested in curbing waste, then it needs to begin a complete audit of the Office of the Prime Minister (where, at least one secretary still does not know where to find the phone numbers of the ministries), as well as each ministry, and insist that each minister (or one of the many deputies) cut down on the replication of job descriptions and lack of clarity in duties to be performed. Indeed, the entire ministerial systems need to be streamlined; freezing salaries is one thing, reshuffling and cutting jobs is a much more useful and convincing approach.

Public-sector jobs are not for people to hold on to while they do their other activities, and the PM would do well to recognise the real sources of waste and inefficiency which undermine any possibility of progress in the near future.

I am, etc.,

VERNA KITSON

verna.kitson@gmail.com

Montego Bay