…the (pension) system
It’s a shad, shad story as to what kinda scheming’s going on with the Old Age pension scheme. A few years ago, now deceased AFC MP Sheila Holder claimed out of the 42,000 or so persons on the pension list, about 17,000 were “phantoms”. Not that they were emaciated and wraith-like (that would’ve qualified almost all the pensioners residing in Guyana) but they really didn’t exist. Folks in and out of the system had created the names and were milking and bilking the scheme.
Ms Holder based her assertion on circumstantial evidence – notably the number of pensioners on the Ministry’s list had (without explanation) risen precipitously since 2002. She figured at least $1 billion was going into some black hole (or black pocket). The subject Minister got involved and assured us the pensioners list was sanitised and there were no such “phantoms”.
Fast forward to 2015 and the new broom in the Finance Ministry ordered a “forensic audit” of the whole pension scheme – which was delivered last month. The auditors found a department and its systems in complete disarray. When asked for a record of persons eligible for pensions, they produced lists with “64,001 and 51,915 pensioners respectively”. A revised list “containing 46,976 pensioners was finally submitted six months later.” Sanitised list??
But not bothering to get all het up about the piss poor records – a tempest in a teacup has erupted over the Minister’s directive that overseas residents be refused in their attempts to bilk the system. The law’s very clear that folks living overseas shouldn’t collect the pensions. It originally stated that one had to be back here for at least 20 years to qualify – but the previous administration reduced that to two.
Now there’s absolutely nothing unfair about this rule. One of the reasons for the upsurge in names on the list was probably these “foreigners” taking advantage of our lax records when the payments started to be increased from the pittance it originally was. This kind of behaviour – apart from being illegal – is absolutely despicable and greedy. 18,200 Guyana dollars is just US$90. That’s absolutely nothing to the poorest immigrant in North America – but means the world to most local pensioners.
How can the PPP’s Gail Teixeira defend the status quo after the revelations of the audit? Especially when the Minister saying savings accruing from winnowing out the foreigners will be distributed to the local pensioners. From this Eyewitness’ personal knowledge, at least a third of the persons collecting pensions are overseas-based hustlers. They even obtain local passports.
The Ministry should institute home spot-checks to ascertain who’s actually living here. And who’re hustlers.
…the school system
In the developed countries such as the US and UK…the statistics over the last century have shown – on the whole – the rich keeps getting richer. And this in the face of insistent claims its merit that gets folks ahead. One of the reasons for this anomaly is since “merit” is most often measured by educational achievement, since the latter is inordinately determined by wealth, the system is inevitably gamed. Biology becomes destiny: born to poor parents more likely than not, you’ll remain uneducated and poor. And vice versa.
And it’s no different in Guyana (or anywhere else). Scratch the background of the top 1% in the NGSA and you’ll find out – in the main – they all come from middle and upper class background – such as it is in Guyana. So what we have are the better off folks, who can send their kids to the private primary schools – milking and bilking the system by getting their kids into the premier, well-funded secondary schools.
Paid for by the taxes of the masses.
…on city parking meters
We still don’t know the details of the parking meter contract. Why? We might just steal the “industrial secrets” therein.
Never mind it’s the city that has to agree to any new contracts!!
