THERE IS A deficit of approximately $15 million in the Bridgetown Port Inc.’s Employees’ Defined Benefit Pension Plan.
Making the disclosure in the Senate yesterday, Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism and International Transport Senator Irene Sandiford-Garner pointed out this was half of the deficit which existed ten or 15 years ago when it stood at “some $30 million.”
Sandiford-Garner pointed out at that time the port workers did not contribute to the pension plan which was funded solely by the employer and said the problem was not manifested previously because some time ago “it was not shown in the financials”.
She advised: “I am happy to say that it would have shown up then in the books, and we would have seen consistent efforts made subsequent to 2004 for that fund to be replenished with ongoing efforts to close the gap.”
But she maintained it was still a “substantial and worrisome” gap.
During his presentation, Senator Sir Roy Trotman told the Senate about a port workers pension scheme of which he had been chairperson for more than 25 years, which still has millions of dollars accumulated in the plan.
At that time the workers paid a portion and the employers doubled that contribution. But he explained this was replaced by a Government non-contributory pension scheme when certain changes were made involving employment at the port, and that scheme came to an end.
However, Sir Roy said it was these pension funds, invested overseas, that provided a foreign exchange safety net in the 1990s, when Barbados was facing difficult times. (GC)
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