THERE WAS much talk about salaries in the House of Representatives yesterday, as backbenchers on the Government side voiced displeasure with their pay scale when compared with others in the private and public sector.

Minutes after Member of Parliament for West Rural St. Andrew Vernon Robinson detailed the relatively low earnings of MPs with those of managers at different levels, his colleague from East Rural St. Andrew, Oliver Clue, disclosed the salary of the Technical Director of the national football programme Rene Simoes, causing a few raised eyebrows.

Simoes' pay

"I am proud that under the Right Honourable Prime Minister P.J. Patterson that our present coach, Technical Director, earns $36 million," Mr. Clue said. "Per year?" asked one of his fellow MPs, to which Mr. Clue answered in the affirmative.

Mr. Clue was speaking about the success of the football programme, which he said was made possible because of the support of Mr. Patterson. He said that under the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) administration of the 1980s, Jamaica was banned from participating in international football competitions because the Jamaica Football Federation did not pay an entry fee of US$1,500.

But Mr. Clue's comment was in contrast to Mr. Robinson's presentation, in which he said the salary of a backbencher MP was $986,069 per year.

"They don't receive a housing allowance, constituency expenses is $160,000 per annum...this (includes) the cost for operating an office, rental, paying secretarial staff, utility costs, all of the those other costs associated with constituency expenses," he said.

Mr. Robinson said the provision for constituency expenses work out to approximately $12,500, which meant the costs had to be subsidised by the MP. They also get a travelling allowance of $106,200 per annum and daily subsistence of $300, providing they come to Parliament.

Mr. Robinson said vice-presidents or general managers in the financial and insurance sector get a high of $3.9 million to an average of $2.5 million. Their average salary is higher than that of the Prime Minister.

Auditors, doctors

A chief internal auditor in the manufacturing sector gets $2.18 million, while the deputy managing director earn in excess of $6 million. A junior doctor earns between $1.8 million and $2.5 million, while a Class A principal from a tertiary educational institution takes more than a backbencher, Mr. Robinson said.

Yet, the MP said he was not making a case for a salary increase.

"We are willing to accept a wage freeze (for two years), but the rest of the public sector must be willing to follow our lead," he said, to thunderous applause from his colleagues on the back bench.

He challenged journalists to reveal the salaries of talk show hosts, some of whom, he said, were paid more than the Prime Minister.