The distribution of Old Age Pension books has been progressing over the past few days and the prospect of distribution being completed in another six weeks looks bright, said Minister within the Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security, Bibi Shadick recently.

In an interview with the minister last Friday it was revealed that apart from Regions One, Eight, Nine and some parts of Region Seven, all the other areas had been reporting satisfactory progress in the distribution process.

According to Shadick, most of the coastal areas had reported over 60% of books distributed, while Region Six had distributed some 90% of the quota of books allocated for the area. She said that Region Four, because it had over 15,000 pensioners, had only distributed 40% of the quota of books, but the process would be beefed-up by increasing the staff in this region.

She said that in the Corentyne local Board Guardians had assisted greatly in distributing the books and had almost completed the entire area. However, in New Amsterdam, the progress had been slow because the pensioners had been forced to climb two flights of stairs which was too much for the majority, who were ailing. According to her, alternative arrangements would be put in place to remedy this, and other centres would be set up in the area to deal with the overcrowding.

The minister said that she had listened to some of the cries and pleadings of the pensioners, but her task was to reduce the amount of fraud and discrepancies which had engulfed the old system. She urged that pensioners remain calm and patient and ensure that they visited the centres to uplift their books.

"We are working very hard to help you and if you would allow us at the end of this first phase, you will return back to the post offices to uplift your payment and everything will be alright," Shadick said. Besides, she noted that in Linden one of the centres located at the Regional Democratic Council had been plagued with confusion and irregularities. According to her, many pensioners living in the area had made several complaints to senior officials of the ministry concerning inadequate seating and waiting quarters and even the attitudes of some of the social workers.

Shadick said that despite these shortcomings, the officers attached to Linden had been able to distribute over 60% of the books uplifted from the ministry. She said other centres would be in operation next week and hopefully Linden too would be able to reach the deadline set by the ministry.

She also spoke about Regions One, Seven, Eight, and Nine where distributions had not commenced. According to her, these areas would be served as soon as pensions were available for payment. Shadick explained that because these regions were not easily accessible her officers had decided that they would distribute the books and at the same time make payments to the pensioners.

She said this would enable her ministry to reduce its spending and facilitate a more speedy distribution and payment system. She gave the assurance that her accounts department was working assiduously to uplift all of the necessary documents from the Ministry of Finance so that the payment of Old Age Pensions would be undertaken very soon.

In addition, she noted, officers had commenced visits to the shut-ins and would continue this until the process was completed.

Shadick acknowledged that at the initial stage of the process there had been many problems and setbacks. "But thanks to the media and other concerned citizens who highlighted these to my ministry... we were able to take corrective actions."

Stabroek News continued its tour to some of the centres in and around Georgetown on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and with the exception of a few centres where many pensioners had gathered, the situation was generally quiet and smooth. Social workers were seen working industriously to complete their quota of pension books while some of the senior citizens stood and others sat quietly waiting for their books.

However, at the Night Shelter an old woman who identified herself as Candace on Thursday let the centre saying that she had gone there at 7:00 am and up to 3:00 pm when this newspaper visited she was still waiting in the line.

According to her, she preferred the old system, and the strain of waiting in long lines was too much for her to bear. "Right now I am fed up - I don't know what to do, these people ain't concern about old people, when I come back I come," the woman said.

On the East Coast most of the centres had completed their quota of books and generally the response of the pensioners was one of satisfaction since most of them had left their respective centres with their new books. Meanwhile, in a press release from the Government Information Agency (GINA) last Thursday, Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr Roger Luncheon said that the Guyana Government had spent almost $1 billion on Old Age Pensions and Public Assistance last year. According to the release, Luncheon noted that Cabinet had supported the move to further rationalise the distribution of Old Age Pension books and Public Assistance forms and their payments. He said that pension books were currently distributed once a year and the process had the disadvantage of being open to gross irregularities in both distribution and the encashment of vouchers. The Ministry of Labour Human Services and Social Security, he said, had called for new books to be printed, and cabinet had noted the circumstances that led to the decision to print and distribute the books nationwide. He added that cabinet had been advised of the unavoidable delays being incurred during the process of distribution but had promised to address the situation within another six to eight weeks. He said that payments through encashment at the post offices and other mechanisms would continue as usual but that those payments would now be complemented by the creation of electronic databases to capture the eligible population, and which would make possible the recall and monitoring of all fanancial transactions.