At the time the Chief Personnel Officer (CPO) agreed to the President’s Housing allowance in July 2013, the allowance was $15,540 a month and not $28,000 monthly to which the Salaries Review Commission subsequently increased it in March 2014.
The allowance level is contained in a July 7, 2013 correspondence from the CPO to the President’s secretary on the issue of the payment of the allowance to the President. The letter refers to a phone conversation involving the secretary and Angela Siew (a personnel department senior human resource adviser) when clarification was sought on the payment of the allowance.
It was specified in Minister of Finance Circular number 4 of 2009 dated August 27 2009 “to his Excellency, the President.” The CPO’s letter stated: “In this regard you should note as a principle where an office holder is provided with accommodation by the State, a housing allowance is not payable for any period during which he/she is provided with such accommodation. “In the case of the Office of the President, the relevant circular provides for official residences which are fully furnished and maintained by the State with the necessary complement of household staff. “Further, in instances where the official residence is not available and suitable alternative accommodation is not provided the housing allowance is payable.”
The CPO further stated: “I note that His Excellency is currently provided with temporary accommodation at Flagstaff Hill pending the completion of renovations to the residence in which he is to be housed and in view of the particular circumstances, the housing allowance of $15,540 per month outlined in the Minister of Finance Circular, referred to above, should be paid to him, only during the period in which he occupies such temporary accommodation. Please be guided accordingly.”
Although the allowance was $15,540 monthly at that time, the SRC’s subsequent recommendation in its 98th report increased the housing allowance to $28,000 monthly. The 98th report was passed in Parliament on March 14, 2014.
Attorney General Anand Ramlogan has called on SRC head Edward Collier to speak and clarify the issue. Collier was unavailable yesterday. Advice which the AG sought on the issue from the Solicitor General is being awaited.
Finance Minister Larry Howai has made it clear the wording “Minister of Finance” regarding the 2009 circular, does not refer to him and that he was not aware of the allowance issue until it broke recently.
The circular was issued in the Finance Ministry in 2009 under the former PNM administration and its Finance Minister at the time, to guide on application of the relevant housing and allowance.