REPUBLIC OF KIRIBATI

SALARIES AND ALLOWANCES OF MEMBERS OF THE MANEABA NI MAUNGATABU AND SALARIES TRIBUNAL (REVISED EDITION 2002, AS AMENDED) (AMENDMENT) ACT 2013

(No. 18 of 2013)

I assent,

Beretitenti
19 December, 2013

AN ACT TO AMEND THE SALARIES AND ALLOWANCES OF MEMBERS OF THE MANEABA N MAUNGATABU AND SALARIES TRIBUNAL ACT (REVISED EDITION 2002)

Commencement:
2013
1. Short title

This Act may be cited as the Salaries and Allowances of Members of the Maneaba ni Maungatabu and Salaries Tribunal (Revised edition 2002, as amended) (Amendment) Act 2013.

2. Commencement

This Act shall come into operation on the date of assent by the Beretitenti, except section 3 (a)(i), (b)(i), (c)(i), and (d)(i) which are deemed to have come into operation on the 1st January 2012.

3. Amendment of Schedule 1

Schedule 1 of the Salaries and Allowances of Members of the Maneaba ni Maungatabt and Salaries Tribunal (Revised 2002 as amended) (" the principal Act ") is amended as follows:—

(a)
(i) by repealing " 17, 900 " in the second column (Salary of the Beretitenti) and substituting " 22, 388 "; and

(ii) by inserting in the fourth column (Sitting Allowance of Te Beretitenti) " 50 ";

(b)
(i) by repealing "16,400" in the second column (Salary of Te Kauoman ni Beretitenti) and substituting " 20,521"; and

(ii) by inserting in the fourth column ("Sitting Allowance of Te Kauoman ni Beretitenti) " 50";

(c)
(i) by repealing " 15,600 " in the second column (Salary of a Minister) and substituting " 19,525 "; and

(ii) by inserting in the fourth column as (Sitting Allowance of a Minister) " 50 ";

(d)
(i) by repealing " 12, 610 " in the second column (Salary of an Elected Member) and substituting " 16, 380 "; and

(ii) by repealing " 1069 " in the third column (Entertainment Allowance for elected members of South Tarawa and Betio) and substituting " 1840 "; and

(iii) by inserting in the fourth column (Sitting Allowance of all Members other than Te Beretitenti, Te Kauoman ni Beretitenti and Ministers) " 50"; and

(e)
(i) by adding a new item in the first column, immediately after "Member of the Maneaba member's Salaries Tribunal," the words, " Chairman or Chairwoman of a Committee " and by inserting in the fourth column (Sitting Allowance of Chairman or Chairwoman of the Committee) " 55 "; and

(ii) by adding a new item in the first column after "Chairman of Chairwoman of the Committee", the words, " Members of the Committee and by inserting in the fourth column (Sitting Allowance of Members of the Committee) "50".

4. Amendment of section 3

Section 3 is amended by numbering the existing provision as section 3 (i) and inserting a new section 3 (2) as follows:—

"3 (2) (a) The sitting allowance is payable to a member who actually attends the session of the Maneaba, and is entitled for a full day allowance for actually attending the full day session or part thereof.

(b) The sitting allowance for Committee Members is not payable if they meet on any day when the Maneaba is in session, even after the Maneaba has disposed off its business on any given day.

5. Amendment of section 4

Section 4 of the principal Act is amended at —

(a) subsection 1 (c) (ii) by repealing " one occasion " and substituting "two occasions ";

(b) subsection (2) by deleting subsection (2) and renumbering the rest of the subsections accordingly;

(c) subsection 6 by repealing it and substituting the following new subsection (6) —

" (6). Subject to subsection (7), the Beretitenti and a Minister are entitled to 3 constituency visits per year, the duration is two weeks per constituency visit and are entitled to:—

(a) free sea or air passage;

(b) be accompanied by his or her spouse on 3 occasions per year with free sea or air passage; and

(c) be accompanied by his or her children on one occasion per year with free sea or air passage."

6. Amendment of section 5

Section 5 of the principal Act is amended by repealing it and substituting a new section 5 as follows:—

"5. (1). The Beretitenti is entitled to a motor vehicle, fuelled, staffed and serviced at Government's expense.

(2). A Minister is entitled to a motor vehicle, fuelled, staffed and serviced at Government's expense, for official duty and engagements only."

7. Amendment of section 6

Section 6 of the principal Act is amended at —

(a) subsection 3 (d) by repealing it and substituting a new subsection 3 (d); as follows: —

"3(d). If a member, other than the Beretitenti or a Minister travels to South Tarawa, attends any meetings of the Maneaba ni Maungatabu or other official business, that member is entitled to a subsistence allowance of $100 per day non accountable, regardless of whether a spouse accompanies him or her or not."; and

(b) subsection 3 (e) by repealing it; and

(c) subsection (4) by repealing it and

(d) subsection (5) by repealing it.

Amendment of section 12

Section 12 of the principal Act is amended at subsection (3) by repealing the figure "3" and substituting the figure "2".

Amendment of section 13

Section 13 of the principal Act is amended at subsection (2) by repealing "$350" and substituting "$500".
__________________

Salaries and Allowances of Members of the Maneaba ni Maungatabu and Salaries Tribunal (Revised Edition 2002, as amended) (Amendment) Act 2013

Explanatory Memorandum

The Salaries Tribunal set up to review and make recommendations for the salaries and allowances of the members of the Maneaba ni Maungatabu tabled its report to the Maneaba during the August 2013 session. Cabinet had considered it and the members had also had the opportunity to debate the contents of the said report during a workshop held specifically to address the said report of the Salaries Tribunal. It is the combination of the report itself, plus the consideration of the said report by Cabinet, and together with result of the workshop held for the members to address the report of the Salaries Tribunal that the amendments to the Revised Edition of the Salaries and Allowances of Members of the Maneaba ni Maungatabu and Salaries Tribunal Act 2002, as amended is being formulated.

In summary, the contents of this Act are as follows:—

Section 2 deals with the commencement date and states that the Act shall commence in the usual manner which is upon the Act being assented to by the Beretitenti, except only for the salary increase of the members which shall commence on the 1st January 2012, the year when the term of the present members started.

Section 3 amends Schedule 1, which deals with salary, entertainment allowance, and sitting allowance of the members, members of the committee, including the chairman of the committee. The salary increase and the increase of the entertainment allowances for Betio and South Tarawa members only follows the recommendations of the tribunal. The sitting allowance is a novel concept designed specifically to ensure that members actually present themselves at the meetings of the Maneaba.

Section 4 amends section 3 by inserting a new provision to explain further how and when does a member, or a member of the Committee is entitled for a sitting allowance. For the purpose of being entitled for a sitting allowance, participating for part of a day is considered sufficient. As to the members of a standing or select committee, he or she is not entitled to receiving any sitting allowance if the Committee meets on any day the Maneaba meets, even if that committee meets after the Maneaba has disposed its business for a given day.

Section 5 amends section 4 by increasing the occasion of the accompanying spouse to travel overseas of a member from once to twice per term. It also addresses the frequency of the constituency visits by Cabinet members to be 3 times a year with the duration to two weeks per constituency visit.

Section 6 amends section 5 to reflect the current entitlements for motor vehicle to the Beretitenti and the Ministers.

Section 7 does several things in amending section 6. First, it amends subsection 3 (d) to increase the per diem to $100 per day non accountable for a member attending any meetings of the Maneaba or other official business, regardless of whether a spouse accompanies him or her or not. Secondly by increasing the per diem for members attending the meetings of the Maneaba or official business, which is non accountable, subsection 3(e) is deemed unnecessary and is repealed. Thirdly, it repeals subsection 4 dealing with the meal allowances for Betio and South Tarawa members. And lastly, it repeals subsection 5 which is redundant. That deals with the subsistence allowance payable to the members of the standing or select committee between 1994 and 1995.

Section 8 amends section 12 by making the clothing allowance payable every two years instead of every three years.

Section 9 amends section 13 to increase the communication allowance from $350 to $500 non accountable per year.

Titabu Tabane
Attorney General

CERTIFICATE OF THE CLERK OF THE MANEABA NI MAUNGATABU

This printed impression of the Bill has been carefully examined by me with the Bill which passed the Maneaba ni Maungatabu on the 17th December 2013 and is found by me to be a true and correctly printed copy of the said Bill.

Eni Tekanene
Clerk of the Maneaba ni Maungatabu

CERTIFICATE OF THE SPEAKER OF THE MANEABA NI MAUNGATABU

I certify that the above Bill, was on the 17th December 2013 passed by the Maneaba ni Maungatabu having expressly resolved to proceed with consideration of the Bill under section 68(3)(b) of the Constitution.

Hon. Taomati Iuta
Speaker of the Maneaba ni Maungatabu

Published by exhibition at the Maneaba ni Maungatabu this 19 day of December 2013.

Eni Tekanene
Clerk of the Maneaba ni Maungatabu