Stopping the 'Brain Drain' from government

Banyar Aung argues that capping the wages of local staff in aid agencies is not the solution. From my point of view, for donors and international agencies to cap local staff wages to stop 'brain drain' is impractical.

It is like cutting the electricity of the neighboring town because our town's electricity is cut out. It is not that local staff at aid agencies are getting what they don't deserve. It is the low wages of the government staff that are undeserved.

To pull down the benefiting people in the name of equality, is almost like ways of Communism. The solution must not be making the ones able to send their kids to good schools, not able to. It must be in a way that enable the kids of government staff enter the good schools too.

Even in my 2-3 years of working public health field, I realized that we (the country) need enough financial capital to achieve things like Universal Health Coverage.

Stories like a young doctor going to a very remote Chin Mountains and work for the local ethnic groups, embedded his life for the country with $250 monthly salary are good to read. There are still heroes like that even now.

But like mentioned in last week's article (see link below), what if his mother is very sick and needed Haemodialysis? In short, I believe other sectors like Education, Agriculture and Infrastructure Development are all largely linked to Country's financial resources.

To amplify a country's financial power, we need a good-willed government (that I believe we have now) with correct economic policies.

Yet, armed conflicts across the country are preventing the momentum of development. We have no chance to turn our country into a first world country with those problems.

In conclusion, Donors and International Agencies should emphasize and put pressure on national cease fire, reconciliation and peace building processes, then focus their aids into strategic policies and economic development of Myanmar.

Only by then the government can effort to pay its staff what they deserve and can prevent the "Brain Drain" issue once and for all.

Pic avidwriter