STATE MINISTER for Local Government Robert Montague says the cost-saving incentive package that was contemplated for executive director of the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) Joan Gordon-Webley was rejected as it breached compensation guidelines in the public sector.

In December 2008, during a question-and-answer session in Parliament, it was revealed that the NSWMA boss would earn 20 per cent of amounts saved by the company through the implementation of cost-cutting measures.

Chairman of the NSWMA board, Dennis Morgan, told The Gleaner in a recent interview that Gordon-Webley was not benefiting from a cost-saving initiative.

He dismissed assertions that the NSWMA head had received the incentive, charging that the Opposition was playing politics when the matter was first discussed.

The issue was again the subject of sharp exchanges between Opposition Member of Parliament Colin Fagan and Montague during Tuesday's deliberations of the Standing Finance Committee of Parliament, which examined the First Supplementary Estimates of Expenditure.

aggressive move

"The document that was brought was a document before the board (board of directors) and that should have been the package, but it was in breach of the regulations and guidelines and the board moved aggressively to correct that," he said.

Montague said the NSWMA executive director was not receiving $10 million as purported by Fagan but was being paid approximately $4 million.