Councillors demand better remuneration

Councillors from both sides of the political divide at the St Catherine Municipal Corporation have backed calls for increased remuneration for elected municipal representatives.

The call was led by Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) councillor for the Above Rocks Division, Corell Davis, during Thursday’s general meeting, where she questioned the disparity between the salaries of municipal councillors and senior administrative officials at the corporation.

In making her case, Davis compared the salary of the municipal corporation’s chief executive officer (CEO) with that of the chairman, arguing that the CEO earns more despite being supervised by the chairman.

She said her research showed the situation was untenable.

“It cannot be that you supervise this person and this person gets more remuneration than you, it’s wrong and we must stand up against it,” she declared.

Davis also pointed to what she described as a disparity between the remuneration of the deputy mayor and councillors and that of the chairman.

“Mr Chairman, also based on my research, the deputy mayor is supposed to be getting 80 per cent of what you are supposed to be getting, and councillors between 60 and 65 per cent of what the chairman is getting.”

She argued that councillors deserve better compensation given the demands of the job, while making it clear that she intends to champion the issue rather than leave it solely to the municipal chairman.

Davis said councillors work long hours serving their communities and should be compensated accordingly.

“We work hard out there, we work from Sunday to Sunday, and we must be so compensated,” Davis said to thunderous applause.

Under Jamaica’s public-sector compensation restructuring, mayors earn between approximately $7.7 million and $11.4 million annually, with the mayors of Kingston and St Andrew and Montego Bay at the upper end of the scale.

Deputy mayors earn roughly $5.8 million to $8.1 million a year, while municipal councillors receive between approximately $4.4 million and $5.72 million annually.

The current remuneration represents a substantial increase on the previous baseline of roughly $1.6 million to $1.7 million a year for councillors.

However, municipal corporation CEOs earn between just over $9.4 million and $12.6 million annually, depending on the classification of the corporation.

ruddy.mathison@gleanerjm.com