Social welfare plans to continue addressing well-being of veterans – PM

Prime Minister, Brigadier (Retired) Mark Phillips has reiterated that the Government’s social welfare plans encompass the well-being of veterans and would continue to advance as they implement further social policies to complement Guyana’s rapid transformation.
The Prime Minister made these remarks on Wednesday, as he received a visit from the Secretary General of the Royal Commonwealth Ex-Services League (RCEL), Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Christopher Warren at his office in Georgetown.

“Support will get better, with Guyana enjoying some level of prosperity as the fastest-growing economy in the world,” PM Phillips said.
He added that this support would benefit all Guyanese citizens, including veterans from the World Wars, Pre-independence soldiers, those serving in the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) and public service workers.
Meanwhile, Lt Col Warren, alongside the President of Guyana Veterans Legion (GVL) Lt Col (Retired) George Gomes, updated the Prime Minister on RCEL’s collaboration with GVL to support veterans and widows of veterans in Guyana.
This assistance includes financial aid for World War II veterans in Commonwealth countries who served the Crown, but remain outside of the United Kingdom (UK).
Warren also expressed appreciation to the Guyana Government for its continued support of veterans.
Last November, Phillips had presented GVL with a cheque worth $1 million on behalf of President Dr Irfaan Ali, thereby reaffirming this assistance.
The Prime Minister had done so during a Remembrance Sunday ceremony that paid homage to the millions of service personnel who lost their lives during World Wars I and II, including a number of Guyanese soldiers.
Meanwhile, last November as well, President Ali had committed to putting together a team of National Insurance Scheme (NIS) officers to conduct an exercise at the GDF Headquarters to specifically tackle challenges faced by veterans.
This was in response to several concerns previously raised by Lt Col Gomes, including the policy that stipulated that if a person never made any claims at the NIS during their working years, then they were unable to do so when they retire and their health deteriorates.
Another issue raised had been in regard to the destruction of a significant number of GDF records during the 2005 flood which led to many persons being told that there was no record of their contributions upon visiting NIS to make their claims at retirement age.
The GDF, Lt Col Gomes had noted, created a system where they prepared letters indicating that the individual in question actively served as a soldier within the requisite years. However, Gomes had said that the NIS did not recognise this letter. (G13)