Gov’t accused of ‘bait and switch’ over hikes to some pensioners

While some pensioners will be seeing a 30% hike, the government was yesterday criticised for giving only $363 more per month to those who had been benefiting from utility subsidies in what PPP/C MP Juan Edghill charged was a `bait and switch’.

By cutting the water and electricity subsidy that had been awarded to old age pensioners under the previous administration, the APNU+AFC government is providing only a $363 increase to pensioners who had qualified for both subsidies, a far cry from the 30% increase that was being promoted.

Members of the opposition accused the government of not increasing pensions to these persons but instead reworking money that was once designated for subsidies to compensate for the pension hikes.

As of September 1, 2015, Old Age Pension is set to rise to $17,000 from $13,125. The water subsidy that pensioners qualified for was $30,000 annually while those in Georgetown also qualified for an $11,800 electricity subsidy and pensioners outside of the capital were provided with $8,976 yearly.

Former Minister within the Ministry of Finance, Edghill spoke to members of the media after the Committee of Supply voted on the 2015 Budget for the Ministry of Social Protection, calling the government’s budget a “bait and switch.”

He said that they were appropriating the subsidies that were once used to provide water and electricity assistance to pensioners in an attempt to promote a falsehood that pension increases were 30%. He stated that many pensioners had become heavily dependent on the two subsidies and they were anticipating a pension increase of roughly $3,000, however this will not be the case.

Edghill said that the increase will now be used to pay for water and electricity so the standard of living for a significant portion of pensioners will not be impacted by the meagre increment. He stated that in 2014 the PPP/C government spent roughly $600M on the electricity and water subsidy bringing the total spent last year to $7.85B.

Social Protection Minister Volda Lawrence’s clarification of questions asked by members of the opposition PPP/C as to where the additional sums of money were coming from as the line item that contained Old Age Pension and Social Assistance seemed low at $8.085B, led to some confusion on whether or not the increase in pension was reflected in the budget.

With assistance from her technical staff Lawrence told the house that $2.7B from the same line item under the Ministry of Finance budget would cover the additional sum. Opposition Chief Whip Gail Teixeira however then stated that the pension item under the Finance Ministry was not an allotment that would be for old age pension but would reflect government pension for officials.

Finance Minister Winston Jordan later clarified that this was a misstep on the part of the technical staff and the minister. He said that the Social Protection Ministry’s budget was accurate and that the $3.15B was correct, comprising the $2.82B for pensions, $243.4M for public assistance and the $30M paid to assist single parents.

The minister’s elucidation allowed for further clarification that the sums now being allotted were done so with the 30% increase to the pension that will be received by the 42,397 persons who currently qualify as well as the 9,361 people who are on public assistance which was also increased from $5,500 to $6,500.

He noted that as of September 1, 2015 pensioners who had qualified for the electrical and water subsidy will no longer be able to access it. He said that they are within their rights to continue to access the subsidy for payments until the end of the month.