Kamla warns pensions at risk in new Govt billMinister defends plan, says it will help protect elderly

Senior Reporter

akash.samaroo@cnc3.co.tt

The Government is planning to introduce legislation that will change and, in some cases, disqualify elderly people who reach the age of 65 from accessing the senior citizens’ pension, Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar is warning citizens.

On December 9, a bill titled The Miscellaneous Provisions (Senior Citizens’ Pension and Public Assistance) Bill, 2024, was laid in Parliament. A major amendment is being proposed in the bill which disqualifies persons with savings in the bank exceeding $25,000 from accessing the old age pension.

Section 4 (g) of the bill states, “An individual shall not be eligible to receive a pension unless he: has savings not exceeding twenty-five thousand dollars.”

Currently, while the submission of bank details is a prerequisite to applying for the senior citizens’ pension, there is no limit on how much money the applicant has in their accounts, nor does the amount disqualify the applicant from accessing the grant.

Speaking at the United National Congress’ cottage meeting at its Chaguanas headquarters on Monday night, Persad-Bissessar raised the issue, as she warned, “That bill will make it harder for pensioners and persons getting public assistance to access those grants. They are monitoring how much money you have in the bank, that is what they are going to do, that’s what this bill is telling us.”

She told supporters that this was the same Government that removed several people from receiving food cards while accepting huge pay raises, recently recommended by the Salaries Review Commission (SRC).

However, Social Development and Family Services Minister Donna Cox yesterday defended the bill, which is in her name, saying its purpose is to protect the elderly from abuse and to ensure that those who deserve the pension can access it.

Explaining why the $25,000 cap is being proposed, Minister Cox told Guardian Media, “What we have found is that there are many people with a lot of money who transfer all their business and everything out of their hands into their families’ hands to collect a pension. So, what we are trying to do is block some of the loopholes where people who are not poor and vulnerable but come and apply for pensions.”

She added, “The pension is not for abuse because it’s taxpayers’ money. This is non-contributary, it is something to help people who are poor and vulnerable. There are many persons who live on their pension because they have never worked in their lives or their children are not taking care of them. Those people are who the pension is for, not for people who have money and still feel they should get the pension.”

The minister said currently, 109,000 people receive a senior citizens’ pension. She sought to assure the public that the bill will not impact those who already receive a pension.

“We are not going back to check on people to say we want to see your bank accounts now, you are already getting pension already. It is not that with this new legislation, we are going back to say your mother supposed to have this or that. No, just moving forward, we are protecting the elderly to make sure all who need it, get it. It is not about taking people off at all or else we’d have put retroactive in the bill,” Cox explained.

But Guardian Media challenged the minister on the new amendment which disqualifies those with over $25,000 in the bank. She was asked if that sum was too little to determine that an applicant is not in need of the monthly $3,500 pension.

To this, Cox said, “The point about it is that the pension is for the poor, it have people who do not have $1,000 in the bank. That is who the pension is for. Pension is not for people who receiving money somewhere. If you have a whole set of money in the bank, why do you need a pension?

“A pension is not intended to totally mind someone, it is assistance, a government pension, remember they don’t contribute to it at all. It is not an automatic and that is what people don’t understand, there’s a process. It has been so for years.”

She accused the UNC of attempting to sensationalise the issue, while ignoring the positives that the bill will bring.

Cox said the bill will also empower the State to take action against people who collect pension cheques on behalf of the elderly but fail to use the money for its intended purpose.

“We have found a lot of elder abuse taking place and we put in a whole section on that. We have found old people in homes or living by themselves and they are receiving a pension; who is getting the pension?” she explained.

“We realise, with people who have dementia, sometimes the family is spending their money, not living there and not providing proper foodstuff, we recently found a man going through that. But we had no authority to deal with that, so this is giving the authority to be able to protect the older people.”

The minister underscored that these measures are not being implemented to remove people from the list of recipients but rather to protect them.

Cox could not say when the bill would be debated in Parliament, noting that is up to the Attorney General to decide.

The post Kamla warns pensions at risk in new Govt billMinister defends plan, says it will help protect elderly first appeared on CNC3.