By LR LiburdThe St. Kitts-Nevis Observer
Prime Minister Dr. the Hon. Timothy Harris has debunked the rumour of a 40% cutback on Social Security benefits to pensioners, emphasising that it is “an untruth” and a mischievous act.
Dr. Harris was at the time responding to a caller whilst a guest on WINN FM’s popular radio programme, Voices, on Wednesday (Sept. 7), where he was addressing some of the twin-island Federation’s socioeconomic issues.
The caller, who PM Harris identified as Terry Adams, said: “It is rumoured…it has been alleged that Government is going to be cutting back 40% of persons’ benefits as it relates to Social Security.” He then asked the PM to address the rumour.
“That is an untruth…it is a mischief,” PM Harris said. “There has been no proposal that has come neither to the Board of the Social Security nor to the Cabinet of St. Kitts and Nevis that would require or call for a 40% adjustment or cutback, as he put it, in payments to any beneficiary of the Social Security Scheme. Again, that would be a nonsense talk and we must dismiss it for the mischief that is attempting to create.”
Dr. Harris, who is also the country’s Finance Minister, claimed that the Social Security Board’s Actuarial Report did not make reference to any cut in benefits and that the Report would soon be made public.
He however stated that the Board’s Actuarial Report did recommend an age increase for pensioners.
“The normal things are in the Social Security Actuarial Report and the review is done every three years; so 2011, 2014 or thereabout is when that would have been first finalised. But the Report will speak to things about adjusting the age for pension and on matters like that. And if you go back the last three Reports, those are things that are there. The Actuarial would say when you look across the landscape of social security payments in the Caribbean region and beyond, the average payment wage is about 65 in terms of pension, and you can check with other countries and you will see that the qualifying year is 65. In our context it is 62.
“And so that reality, even the Actuary, has come to grips on and has recommended that if you were to adopt, because these are recommendations, that if one were to adopt that recommendation one could consider still maintaining the option for persons to claim their benefits at 62 but at a reduced rate and the full pension will become payable at 65. And so that is a reasonable approach to addressing that.”
PM Harris declared that the Executive arm of his Government would have to make a decision on the Actuarial Report’s recommendation in terms of the age increase before any action is taken by the Legislative body, and he remains adamant that there is no 40% cutback to pension benefits.
“That decision has not yet been made by the Cabinet and the Cabinet will have to make a judgment on that before that goes to the Parliament, and we believe that there will be some consultation with respect to the Report from the Actuary. But there is, I repeat, no recommendation, to the best of my recollection, has ever come for a 40 percent reduction in benefits that people are now receiving. Indeed, in the said Report, there is a recommendation that some of the payments ought to be revisited upwards. So it is a mixed bag.”
