During a press conference on Oct. 3, Premier Natalio “Sowande” Wheatley promised to provide two key pieces of information about public spending under the controversial 2021 law widely known as the “Greedy Bill.”
Nearly two weeks later, that has not happened.
The bill — officially called the Retiring Allowances (Legislative Service) (Amendment) Act, 2021 — sparked outrage because it included a provision that allowed House of Assembly members to be paid their full salaries for up to four years after leaving office.
The provision provoked such a backlash that the HOA repealed it after the 2023 general election.
Citing legal reasons, however, members phrased the October 2023 amendment to permit members of the previous House — which sat from 2019-2023 — to keep the post-term salary payments unless they submit a written request explicitly turning them down.
Total cost?
In February 2024, Mr. Wheatley told the HOA that the total cost of paying off the six former members who didn’t return to office in 2023 could reach nearly $2.7 million unless the members turned down the awards in writing.
At the time, the six — who included disgraced former premier Andrew Fahie — did not respond to Beacon requests to say whether they would take the optional payouts.
Asked at this month’s press conference how much the six ultimately received, Mr. Wheatley said he would provide the information within two working days.
But since then, no information has materialised despite the Beacon’s repeated follow-up requests.
Along with Mr. Fahie, the six eligible ex-legislators also include former Fourth District Representative Mark Vanterpool, who retired in 2023, and four politicians who were voted out that April: former Sixth District Representative Alvera Maduro-Caines; former Ninth District Representative Shereen Flax-Charles; former At-Large Representative Neville Smith; and the late former At-Large Representative Carvin Malone, who died suddenly in January 2024.
Eligible or not?
Also during the Oct. 3 press conference, the Beacon asked Mr. Wheatley whether the six current HOA members who did not serve in the previous House will be eligible for the post-term salary payments upon leaving office.
He responded, “I will have to go back and review. If memory serves correctly, I don’t believe that they will get some of the payouts due to tenure in terms of how many years have been served.”
Though he promised to confirm their eligibility status after the press conference, he had not done so as of the Beacon’s deadline yesterday afternoon.
The six members in question are Opposition Leader Myron Walwyn; Financial Services and Economic Development Junior Minister Lorna Smith; Tourism and Culture Junior Minister Luce Hodge-Smith; Deputy Speaker Karl Dawson; and opposition members Ronnie Skelton and Stacy Mather.
Government Communications Director Karia Christopher told the Beacon on Tuesday that she had emailed the HOA regarding both matters, but the information was not yet forthcoming.
Definitely eligible
The premier is among seven current HOA members who were returned to office in 2023 after serving in the previous House — and who therefore will definitely be eligible for the post-term salary when they leave office unless they turn it down.
Despite promising during the 2023 election campaign that he would not take “a dime” of the optional payments, the premier acknowledged during his recent press conference that he had not yet relinquished the money in writing.
“That letter must be written when persons are ready to retire, or they have been retired,” he said. “I’m not ready to retire right now, and I have no intention of writing any letters. I will be contesting the next election, and I hope to be successful. If I’m not successful, then we will have decisions to make after that.”
He also declined to urge other members to forgo the post-parliament monies.
“It’s going to be for individual members, in consultation with their families, to make the decisions of what they accept and what they don’t accept,” the premier said.
Besides Mr. Wheatley, the current HOA members who also served in the previous House are Deputy Premier Julian Fraser; Communications and Works Minister Kye Rymer; Education, Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Sharie de Castro; Health and Social Development Minister Vincent Wheatley; and opposition members Mitch Turnbull and Marlon Penn.
Outside of the premier’s response at his press conference, none of the current HOA members has responded to a Sept. 22 Beacon request to say if they will turn down the optional payouts.
Salary hike
Mr. Wheatley’s failure to provide the promised information this month comes amid fresh public anger that HOA members doubled their baseline salaries behind closed doors and kept it secret for more than 18 months — until the move came to light last month in a report from the auditor general.
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