THE Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security has strongly refuted what it described as inaccuracies in a Kaieteur News article about the Old Age Pension Scheme.

The Administration of the Ministry said there were several inaccuracies carried on page 19 of the Kaieteur News edition of March 4, 2014, captioned ‘Parliamentary body urges tighter measures to protect integrity of $2B old age pension scheme’.
A statement said the ministry views the article as a misconstrued representation of the discussion that ensued during the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) review of the 2011 Auditor General’s Report.
Several officials from the ministry appeared before the PAC on March 3, where clarifications were sought on key issues highlighted in the Auditor General 2011 Report, based upon audit queries made on it.
“These were clarified by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Mrs. Lorene Baird,” the statement said.

Not reflected
It added, however, that the answers and explanations provided by Mrs. Baird were not reflected in the Kaieteur News article.
“Indeed there were queries about the contract for the printing of the pension books and the sequential numbering of these books. This particular issue was rectified in the year 2012.
Specifically, as it related to the sequential numbering, the ministry indicated, at the PAC meeting, that, while the books are sequentially numbered and entered into the database, the system is not designed to allow the ministry to enter each of the 12 coupons into the database.
But each pension book could be easily traced in the system.
The newspaper article also stated that, under the law, a pensioner forfeits the right to collect pension once out of Guyana for more than three months.
“This is inaccurate. There were discussions about the length of time a pensioner has to encash his/her monthly coupon and receive retroactive payment within a fiscal financial year.
“The ministry officials indicated that a pensioner can only be paid pension for three preceding months that he/she has missed. If pensioners are unable to personally uplift their pension because of health reasons, or if they are out of the jurisdiction for a short period of time, they are advised to authorise someone to uplift their pension,” the release explained.
In addition, the ministry would like to express concerns about the content in the article about the use of the pension database to grant electricity and water tariff subsidies.
“This was not the subject of any discussion at the Public Accounts Committee meeting. Nevertheless, the ministry wishes to reiterate that its database is not used as the criterion to determine who benefits from the subsidy as is reflected in the Kaieteur News’ article.

Established criteria
“Rather, pensioners apply directly to the Guyana Power and Light Company and the Guyana Water Incorporated. There is, in place, established criteria to determine the eligibility of pensioners. With respect to the electricity and water subsidies, ownership of meter is the criterion used to determine eligibility,” the ministry advised.
The ministry said the article also incorrectly reported that it would await death certificates of pensioners from their relatives before deleting them from the system.
“At present, the ministry receives ‘death returns’ from the General Registrar’s Office’s and inputs this information and updates the database on a regular basis. Family members of the deceased, the Local Board of Guardians and Probation and Social Security Officers, who are assigned throughout the regions, also submit data in this regard,” it was pointed out.
The ministry said it also views with dismay the statement that it had to provide answers in relation to a query of $75M spent to assist persons living with HIV/AIDS.
It said, based on the discussions, officials of the ministry indicated that the matter was engaging the attention of the authorities, the Health Sector Development Unit, which was responsible for funding the project, had conducted an independent audit.
“The PAC then instructed the Auditor General to write the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health to obtain a copy of that Audit Report.
“In light of the numerous inaccuracies highlighted in the newspaper article, the ministry urges the media entity to ensure that its reports are verified and properly reflect the facts,” the admonition said.

(Ministry rebukes Kaieteur News on pension scheme story)