Ruckus in the House as….
THE BUDGET debate continued last evening, and saw the debut of an analysis done by Alliance for Change (AFC) Member of Parliament, Sheila Holder, which caused a ruckus in the House over its implications. Holder’s contention is that 17,640 persons on the 2010 old age pensioners’ register are ‘phantoms’; what she’s saying in other words, is that of the 44,000 old age pensioners currently on the register, only 26,360 are legitimate.
The claim instantly elicited an impassioned outcry from members on the government side of the House, in particular Presidential Adviser, Ms. Gail Teixeira, and Human Services and Social Security Minister, Ms. Priya Manickchand.
Holder also claims that payments to the ‘phantom pensioners’ total some $116M monthly, or $1.3B annually, and that these monies, which are being “diverted” and “pulled out of the system,” could have been used to increase the current old age pension, which now stands at $7,500.
At this, Teixeira raised a point of order with the Speaker, Mr. Ralph Ramkarran, maintaining that the AFC MP “imputed an improper notion,” meaning that she was misrepresenting what Teixeira termed reality.
The Speaker however ruled the objection invalid, thereby allowing Holder to proceed with her presentation.     According to her, the analysis was based on the 2002 population census, figures which, when mathematically assessed, point to the stated conclusion.

Analysis
Holder told the National Assembly that according to the Guyana Population and Housing Census at 2002, the number of individuals over 65 was 32,030, and had risen proportionately from 3.9 percent of the population in 1980, to 4.3 percent.
And according to statistics from the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security, she said, the number of pensioners, which in 2002 was 33,425, had increased significantly to 44,000 in 2010.
It was these indicators, coupled with other computations done by Holder, which resulted in the conclusion that there has been an increase in ‘phantom pensioners’.
Teixeira repeated her call for the ACF MP to retract her statements, but the Speaker ruled that she could proceed. And proceed she did, saying: “It is all legitimate… it is a simple matter of mathematics…I will not retract my statements.”
She stressed that the analysis she conducted points to the “high level” of corruption within the current administration.
Copies of her study were circulated to members of the National Assembly.
In an invited comment after her presentation, Holder told the Guyana Chronicle that members of the ruling party, in conversations subsequent to her presentation, suggested that the calculations were flawed.
The AFC Member of Parliament noted too that it was pointed out to her that the sample used by the Auditor General’s Office, which she referred to in her presentation, was a small and specific sample and could not extend itself further than it did.
In her presentation Holder said, “It is apt to observe that had the Auditor General in his review of the Old Age Pension Programme in Guyana took into consideration the census figures and not rely solely on the figures presented by the Ministry…this situation would have  been properly investigated.”
She said, “The report is widely circulated…I expect them (the ruling party) to punch holes in it.”

Debunked
The Guyana Chronicle also sought a comment from Minister Manickchand, who debunked Holder’s claims, and emphatically stated that the assertions made by Holder are “a lie” and a complete misrepresentation of the facts.
“Sheila Holder was severely flawed in her analysis. It was very disappointing that someone would bring this kind of illogic… The PPP/C (People’s Progressive Party/ Civic) is not going to remove a single pensioner from the old age pension list…we will reject every effort by any person to do that,” Manickchand said.
She acknowledged that there may be some names of persons on the pension register, who have died in the last year, but maintained that there are only “few” cases where relatives try to cash in on benefits after a pensioner has died.
“Where this happens, we work hard to ensure that we do not pay persons who are dead. What happened is that we have to rely on families to tell us that the person is dead. We have a system with the General Registrar’s Office, but it is not as fast as it ought to be. We are working consistently on this,” the Minister said, adding that the current administration has a proud record of serving those who qualify for old age pension.
Prior to 1992, old age pensioners were subject to a ‘Means Test’, which verified that they had absolutely no means of support.
When the present administration took office in 1992, they promised that there would no longer be a ‘Means Test’, and that promise was kept in 1993.
Currently, to benefit from old age pension, a person has to be 65 years old, a Guyanese, and living in Guyana two years prior to receiving this benefit.
The late Dr. Cheddi Jagan’s contention was that all Guyanese, regardless of their means, once they have attained the pensionable age, are entitled to the benefit of old age pension.
Minister Manickchand said, “Since 1992, we have repeatedly improved the system, both by way of increases in the amount paid to pensions, and improvement in the system of delivery… In the last four years, the delivery of services has been so efficient that more persons are attracted.”
She explained that the increase, referenced by Holder, 33,425 in 2002 to 44,000 in 2010, is as a result of the increase of the amounts payable, from just over $2,000 in 2006 to $7,500 in 2011.
“The increase has made it worth the while of many people…Some people you would not believe to be in the category that needs to be caught in a social safety net have come on to the system…We also make it easy to get the pension book; we make the process friendly,” Manickchand said.
The Human Services and Social Security Minister reiterated her disappointment at the representations made by the AFC Member of Parliament and stressed that the analysis is not reflective of the efforts made by the current administration, rather is focused on ‘corruption’ that is not there.