The Prime Minister's compensationincrease: a bad signal sent to all.

There is a profound difference between what is legally permissible and what is morally palatable.

While we at Stand Up for Jamaica acknowledge that Prime Minister Dr. Andrew Holness is technically within his rights to accept the $28.6 million salary adjustment under the public sector

compensation review, we must challenge the judgment behind the decision.

In the current climate, where Jamaicans are buckling under new taxes and literally piecing their lives back together after Hurricane Melissa, this move reeks of tone-deafness and a profound disconnect from the very people the Administration is meant to serve.

Let us be clear: we are not arguing that the Prime Minister is underserving of fair compensation.

The job is arduous, carries immense responsibility, and requires 24/7 engagement.

However, the issue at hand is not the fgure on the cheque; it is the optics and the timing. When Dr. Holness declined this very increase in 2023, he was lauded as a leader who understood the public backlash and the need for symbolic solidarity. He stated then that the decision was binding for the future, creating an impression of permanence.

Now, citing a "new mandate," the Administration has reversed that stance.

Worse, the implementation has been retroactively applied to September 2025, and the official explanation notes that the rollout was merely delayed because of Hurricane Melissa. This phrasing is deeply troubling. It suggests that a catastrophic natural disaster which left 45 dead, caused over $130 million in damage, and displaced students and families, was treated as a scheduling inconvenience rather than a reason for profound national restrain.

The context is critical.

Just weeks ago, Finance Minister Fayval Williams stood before a battered nation to announce a suite of tax increases. Jamaicans are now facing a Special Consumption Tax

on basic non-alcoholic beverages, an extension of GCT to digital services, and increased duties on everyday items. These are not abstract fscal policies; they are direct hits to the pockets of citizens still waiting for roofs to be repaired and lights to be restored in the western parts of the island.

This juxtaposition forces a difficult question: Why would a leader take a massive pay bump while simultaneously asking struggling citizens to pay more?

When a Government imposes austerity on the people, it demands a reciprocal display of austerity from its leadership.

By accepting a raise that moves his compensation from $9 million to $28.6 million, an increase larger than most Jamaicans will earn in a lifetime, the Prime Minister has created a situation whereby funds that could have gone to accelerating the rebuilding of the hurricane ravaged parts of the country will now have to be reallocated to foot the bill for his compensation.

Is this the best use of scarce resources in a time of national crisis?

What does this choice tell us about the Prime Minister's priorities?

Does he really value the lives of the sufering masses or does his own fnancial gain matter more?

Isn't it just plain selfsh for the Prime Minister to enrich himself at the expense of so many struggling to make ends meet?

Defenders of the move, like Dr. Gavin Myers of National Integrity Action, argue that there is never a perfect time for a raise. We respectfully disagree. A perfect time is certainly not when the minimum wage has just been marginally increased, when schools are fat on the ground, and when the Treasury is leaning heavier on the backs of the poor.

We agree with Professor Anna Perkins of the Advocates Network: leadership sometimes requires one to forgo what is owed in favor of what is right. This is not about denying the Prime Minister a living wage; it is about the value of solidarity. In a moment of national crisis, a gesture of shared sacrifce would have spoken volumes.

Dr. Holness had a choice.

He could have waited until the national recovery was further along, until the tax medicine had been swallowed, and until the people felt seen.

Instead, he chose to conform to an established emolument during an emergency.

In doing so, he has signaled that while Jamaicans must tighten their belts, the Ofce of the Prime Minister is exempt from the squeeze.

That is a bitter pill for a nation still in recovery to swallow.