Dear Editor,
There is a rather short and terse notice on the wall of the Guyana Defence Force Sub-Treasury, Base Camp Ayanganna, informing GDF pensioners, that with effect 2009-01-30 pensions will no longer be paid at the said sub-treasury, but at a post office or bank of the pensioners’choice. Reasons were not given for the decision.
Prior to that notice, many ex-soldiers, who were employed with the force after their retirement, had their services terminated − again no reason given.
The two exercises, coming so quickly on the heels of each other, have left many of the ex-soldiers affected, mystified and angry. The failure by the force’s administration to at least give some plausible explanation for the said decisions is now fuelling rumours that the present (force) administration has an agenda against ex-soldiers, one of which will culminate in the barring or banning of ex-soldiers in the GDF compounds.
I find such a rumour nauseating and lacking in credibility; however, there are those who are still sore at the recent changes in the command structure of the force, and will do their utmost to add fuel to the rumours. It is therefore imperative for the force’s administration to issue a short statement debunking those rumours, in order that the good relationship which now exists between the force and its ex-members is not destroyed.
Yours faithfully,
CS Vaughn, MSM
Major (Retired)
