Georgetown : The recent revelations by the Stabroek News that over $200 million was refunded to ministers for health related services is simply an occurrence, that has been essentially happening over decades, according to Head of the Presidential Secretariat, and Cabinet Secretary Dr. Roger Luncheon.
Speaking at his weekly press briefing, Dr. Luncheon explained that it is a condition of service, which unfortunately is not written, of Cabinet members when appointed, to “take care of their health expenses.” It is applicable to public officers and government representatives abroad, he added, but noted the difference, in the conditions of service, in that the expense of Cabinet members is not rule-based. He admitted that a rule-based system is a better option, rather than what has prevailed over the decades, and “Not the PPP/C administration of Guyana, and these benefits, these conditions indeed have extended beyond members of Cabinet, to all and sundry, particularly MPs, particularly members of the opposition.”
The Cabinet Secretary also challenged any opposition parliamentarian to say that the same facility has not been extended to “legions of parliamentarians, their families for health and other emergency considerations. We have even extended it to benefit members, who even in parliament, and are not the holders of constitutional posts.”
He added that while he did not want to engage in selective name calling, unlike some media houses, as the evidence exists to back up his statement, as “We can produce from the beginning of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic administration, every single recipient, who has enjoyed access to this facility.”
He emphasised that the process is discretionary and not rule-based.
