Dear Editor,
The death of a woman in my village recently prompts me to highlight the plight of the widows, poor and now increasingly the middle class which is joining the poor, since the introduction of the unconscionably high Value Added Tax (VAT), and the recent incredible increase in rice prices. This is in addition to the slothful payment of National Insurance (NIS) to beneficiaries.
She is one among numerous persons who had been waiting for months to years to receive their NIS benefits. Workers are retired at age 55 and given their pension at age 60. How are these citizens to survive between the ages of 55 and 60, and then perhaps for some years after before they receive their NIS benefits? This is unacceptable and the situation has to be corrected now and not later.
For the woman who died recently, it took over two years for her to receive her benefits after her husband passed away. In the interim she suffered immensely and developed numerous illnesses. After the implementation of VAT – Very Atrocious Tax – her spending power had been cut by about half and with the increase in the rice price, among other things, there was great hardship for the lady and numerous others.
Yours faithfully,
M. Sookraj
