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You get what you pay for
The furore about the appointment of Don Wehby as a minister in the Ministry of Finance and his salary payment by the corporate giant Grace was fascinating to My Friend P and I.
The chatter and public scrutiny led to Mr. Wehby resigning from his hard-earned job at Grace to make what many think is a remarkable sacrifice in the name of patriotism. P and I both believe that the man should have resigned.
We believe he should have resigned if it were that he was a special case and that all other ministers had to operate with a $3.5 million salary. If others had to live on that salary well, so should he. So he resigned and all is well? Not really.
Imagine this. Mr. Wehby, as an employee of a successful private sector business giant, must have been earning a 'proper salary' with some 'proper perks'. We would hazard an extremely conservative guess to suggest that he must have been carting home at least two and a half to three times what his comparatively meagre minister salary will now be. And there was nothing wrong with this, because no private sector company pays anyone a salary out of the goodness of their heart. No, it is because Mr. Wehby must have brought a certain value to the table that made him worth the big bucks for the company.
How, then, is it that we honestly expect to run a country paying the salaries that we do, and placing some elected klutz that many firms would not even shortlist for a job in charge of all our critical areas? Think about it, a company that is managing revenues that are a mere fraction of what the national budget is pays the best so that they can hire the best.
There are no stipulations about persons' qualifications when they are being selected to be a Minister of Finance, Education, Health, Foreign Affairs, etc. Pretty much irrespective of your skill set, anyone can be accorded ministerial responsibilities. There has got to be something wrong with that formula.
This column is not calling for a salary hike for the ministers - nope. Ministerial responsibilities must all have a job description and so, too, must they have an expected skill set fit. So all ministers ought to be qualified to do the job - and votes from John Public are not credible measures of qualification to be placed on the résumé. Votes are only about a commitment of faith.
The bottom line is, if we don't hire the best to run the country at all levels then we really should not complain when it is all messed up. Garbage in - garbage out.
Email comments to myfriendp@hotmail.com.
The furore about the appointment of Don Wehby as a minister in the Ministry of Finance and his salary payment by the corporate giant Grace was fascinating to My Friend P and I.
The chatter and public scrutiny led to Mr. Wehby resigning from his hard-earned job at Grace to make what many think is a remarkable sacrifice in the name of patriotism. P and I both believe that the man should have resigned.
We believe he should have resigned if it were that he was a special case and that all other ministers had to operate with a $3.5 million salary. If others had to live on that salary well, so should he. So he resigned and all is well? Not really.
Imagine this. Mr. Wehby, as an employee of a successful private sector business giant, must have been earning a 'proper salary' with some 'proper perks'. We would hazard an extremely conservative guess to suggest that he must have been carting home at least two and a half to three times what his comparatively meagre minister salary will now be. And there was nothing wrong with this, because no private sector company pays anyone a salary out of the goodness of their heart. No, it is because Mr. Wehby must have brought a certain value to the table that made him worth the big bucks for the company.
How, then, is it that we honestly expect to run a country paying the salaries that we do, and placing some elected klutz that many firms would not even shortlist for a job in charge of all our critical areas? Think about it, a company that is managing revenues that are a mere fraction of what the national budget is pays the best so that they can hire the best.
There are no stipulations about persons' qualifications when they are being selected to be a Minister of Finance, Education, Health, Foreign Affairs, etc. Pretty much irrespective of your skill set, anyone can be accorded ministerial responsibilities. There has got to be something wrong with that formula.
This column is not calling for a salary hike for the ministers - nope. Ministerial responsibilities must all have a job description and so, too, must they have an expected skill set fit. So all ministers ought to be qualified to do the job - and votes from John Public are not credible measures of qualification to be placed on the résumé. Votes are only about a commitment of faith.
The bottom line is, if we don't hire the best to run the country at all levels then we really should not complain when it is all messed up. Garbage in - garbage out.
Email comments to myfriendp@hotmail.com.
until he said - No increase in salaries and other emoluments for MPs! 
...but, then he slipped 
and splashed 
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