– We apologize for the understatement By: Kiana WilburgMembers of the Alliance For Change (AFC) seemed offended when Kaieteur News in an article published yesterday suggested that Members of Parliament (MPs) in this period of prorogation were collecting millions of dollars for essentially doing nothing.The AFC MPs rushed to accuse the newspaper of inaccurate reporting and of lacking thoroughness when conducting investigations.Kaieteur News, in the article, stated that as of the start of this New Year, MPs such as those in the political opposition were taking home gross earnings of $166,000 and their telephone and travel bills paid for. AFC was quick to deem this, among other revelations in that news item, as being far from the truth.The pay slips willingly provided by AFC member Valerie Garrido-Lowe showed that her gross earnings are $180, 040 and after taxes are deducted, the take home is $140, 992, while Cathy Hughes’ gross salary is $282,000. After deductions her take home is $212,000.This newspaper apologizes for the understatement.This is the chart upon which the initial Kaieteur News’ original article was based.The issue came up for discussion yesterday at the AFC’s first press conference for the year, held at the Georgetown Club.Vice Chairman, Moses Nagamootoo, was asked to address the perception in some quarters that it is considered somewhat unethical for Parliamentarians to be collecting taxpayers’ monies when they are not doing anything, because the Parliament is prorogued. Observers had also said that it is a moral infraction to do such and that the Members of Parliament should not accept their payments.But Nagamootoo said, “If you apply it to someone who was just knocked down by a careless driver and lost his leg, I suppose the victim should say ‘because I am disabled I should hold the driver culpable for damages’. We were disabled by a reckless driver called Donald Ramotar. It is not our fault that the Head of State chose to have a dispensation where members of a crippled Parliament, a dysfunctional Parliament, receive their salaries.“You can’t change one fact, that they (MPs) have been duly elected by the people, and that the election to Parliament carries with it, by law, certain entitlements.“So it is not a moral issue; it is a political issue. For those who shut the Parliament down, that recklessness should be placed at their doorstep…They have placed us in a situation where people’s monies are being spent because of this wrongful act done by the President.“I believe the burden of any moral infraction should be placed at the feet of Ramotar, and I would say no more on the issue.”Ramotar’s option to prorogue the Parliament instead of dissolving it and calling fresh general elections, ensured that the Parliamentarians who entered the House three years ago receive their Parliamentary pension.They only qualify for the pension after exactly three years of service, and not a single day earlier.That three-year period ended on Monday, so if the President had dissolved Parliament anytime before Monday, that pension would not have been secured.Asked to comment on this, Nagamootoo said that? he does not believe the continuation of the current status quo could be stretched so far as to say that it was intended to give pension rights to new PPP Parliamentarians.“That is not factual and…I don’t think it was done with that in mind. I believe the idea behind it was to simply defeat the No-Confidence motion. I wouldn’t credit Ramotar as going that far.”AFC Executive member, Cathy Hughes, also commented on the matter. Hughes said that there seems to be the suggestion that the role of a Parliamentarian is purely within the confines of the National Assembly.She said that as recent as last Saturday and yesterday afternoon, an AFC team went to an interior location and on the weekend it was in another area working.“We as parliamentarians represent the people, and there are people who come into our offices every minute of the day. We have outreaches and visits to several places in Guyana on a regular basis—-three to four times a week even, so it’s not as if our work has stopped.“We are not walking into the halls of the Parliament, regrettably, but our work continues,” the politician added.She added that if the PPP Members of Parliament are willing to forego their payments in that capacity, then she and her colleagues would be more than happy to follow suit.Nagamootoo added that those government MPs collecting the “million-dollar entitlement” should donate their monies to “some poor institution.”Attorney General,Kris Jenkins College Jersey, Anil Nandlall, will receive from January 1, a monthly parliamentary salary of $1.6 million in addition to a duty allowance,Cheap NFL Jerseys Supply, an entertainment allowance,<a href=