Old folk feeling cheated

PORT-OF-SPAIN – Scores of senior citizens on Thursday expressed displeasure at how the TT$3 000 (about BDS$952) pension the People’s Partnership promised during the general election campaign will be paid out in September. At a well-attended Open Public Forum for Older Persons at the St Joseph’s Community Centre, Anthony Alexander, 69, of St Joseph, was one of many pensioners who turned up to voice their discontent with how much will be disbursed to senior citizens as a pension.“I expected to be paid an Old Age Pension of TT$3 000 from the State in addition to my National Insurance Scheme (NIS) entitlement. When I voted in the general election, I voted for a $3 000 pension. I did not vote for my NIS to be topped up to be called my pension,” Alexander said, adding, “I feel cheated.” Pensioners nearby hummed in agreement, some noting that the TT$3 000 pension was one of the major promises made by the People’s Partnership during election campaigning. Many of the senior citizens then carried on their own discussions while they were being briefed on the subject by welfare officer in the Ministry of the People and Social Development, Zelpha Phillips.The senior citizens were so loud in their discussions that at one stage they drowned out the voice of the speaker. At the intervention of another senior citizen, who could not hear what Phillips was saying, the moderator asked them to listen.The senior citizens also questioned the main criteria for eligibility for the pension. The criteria includes being age 65 and over, residency and income.Phillips said that in addition to the pension, senior citizens could benefit from a number of other measures in place to help alleviate their status, but would need to qualify to benefit from these measures. The measures include a maximum TT$10 000 housing assistance grant, TT$4 500 for household articles, TT$1 600 assistance for domestic help during illness for a three-month period, TT$500 clothing grant, TT$3 500 funeral expenses grant, an education grant for a grandchild where the grandparent is the legal guardian, a dietary grant for special cases, such as for diabetics; and a house rent for up to three months at a cost of TT$2 500. (Trinidad Express)