A lawmaker has challenged the reappointment of the Public Service Commission chairman for another three-year contract with a gratuity worth 25 per cent of his $181,050 post.
Haider Barma's reappointment was made by the Chief Executive and gazetted on April 30.
Mr Barma, a former Transport Secretary, who advised Governor Chris Patten and now Tung Chee-hwa on civil service matters, will pocket $1.6 million as a gratuity at the end of his first three-year contract next month.
He was appointed commission chairman by Mr Patten in 1996 after becoming the first policy secretary to step down ahead of the handover because he did not have the Chinese nationality required by the Basic Law.
Democratic Party legislator Cheung Man-kwong asked why Mr Barma could keep a 25 per cent gratuity while the rates for other civil servants had been reduced to 10 to 15 per cent.
'Are there double standards for top and junior staff?' He said the difference would arouse public concern that the appointment was unfair.
'It reinforces the impression derived from the civil service reform that revolution only takes place at the bottom, not the top level,' he said.
