Post offices run out of pension money
-ask ministry for more
By Nigel Williams
Stabroek News
April 4, 2003
Hundreds of senior citizens have been returning empty handed from post offices around the country this week, as there is no money to cash their Old Age Pension vouchers.
Even though many of them still have not received their booklets for this year, the pensioners continue to endure hardship to collect the stipend of $1820 - what many call a “pittance”.
Contacted yesterday an official at the Guyana Post Office Corporation (GPOC) told this newspaper that they had stopped cashing pension vouchers indefinitely pending a financial release from the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security. A source at the Ministry’s accounts section told this newspaper that the relevant cheque orders had already been made out and sent to the Ministry of Finance for the release of the money, but to date only $13m had been released. Stabroek News understands that the Ministry had made a financial request for over $80m for the payment of pensions for this month.
According to reports the $13m has already been exhausted and it is not clear when the remaining request now at the Ministry of Finance would be released.
GPOC officials explained that they were willing to cash the coupons for the pensioners but the agency was just strapped for cash. Fortunately some pensioners were able to receive their stipend out of the $13m. This newspaper understands that in previous circumstances GPOC would have used its own money and cashed the vouchers, but on many occasions the ministry had failed to reimburse the corporation in a timely manner if at all.
The GPOC official explained that the money they would use to pay the pensioners was actually intended for other persons or agencies.
“We used to take the risk and used these people’s money with the expectations that the ministry would reimburse us the money, but sometimes it never happened and we had to use our own reserves to replace those people’s money,” the official said.
He noted that had it not been for the stark economic conditions the corporation found itself in it might have been in a better position to assist. Sources at the Human Services Ministry confirmed that the Ministry was in default in that area.
Meanwhile, reports reaching this newspaper state that pensioners continued to queue at post offices yesterday along the East Coast and other areas for their pensions, but were turned away.
