Dear Editor,
Now that the 2014 budget is in the process of being crafted, it is time to take a serious look at the minimum rate of the pensions being doled out to retired government workers.
As a retired deputy head teacher, myself, I can attest to the obvious discrepancy that exists between the pensions payable to teachers who are fortunate to retire nowadays, and, for instance, a deputy head teacher who, because of the ‘accident’ of birth, retired three decades ago when the salary for this post was $650 to $700 per month. You do not need much imagination to guess what the rate of pension was.
After becoming president in 1992 it did not take long for the late Dr Cheddi Jagan to recognize the growing discrepancy between the old rates and the then newer ones. He therefore increased the minimum rate to equal half of the then national minimum wage.
Since then, by virtue of years of increases, the minimum rate of pension is now only $18,820 per month. Meanwhile, mainly through negotiations between the Guyana Teachers Union and the government, teachers’ salaries have risen to more comfortable heights. As a consequence, the pensions’ rate has increased proportionately and is now about four times that of the older retirees.
Given the unalterable fact that all retirees have to face the same cost of living, cannot the government emulate Dr Jagan’s gesture and raise the minimum pensions rate to at least the equivalent of the national minimum wage rate (ie $35,000)?
Surely it can be done without bankrupting the government.
Over to the Finance Minister.
Yours faithfully,
G Moore
