Dear Editor
Please allow us a little space in your newspaper to highlight two very important issues relating to the above subject. As third-year social work students at the University of Guyana (Tain Campus), a part of our semester brought some awareness to the circumstances under which our aging population have to live and survive on a daily basis.
The first issue is that of the amount of money given as Old Age pension. With the rising cost of living, a regular individual who receives a salary of sixty thousand dollars a month finds it difficult to manage. Our elderly receive less than thirty thousand dollars a month; and we can only imagine the difficulty they face in making ends meet. While some of them are fighting chronic illnesses like high blood pressure and diabetes, they are also subjected to wear and tear in their bodies, hence, the need for additional nutritious meals and care that cost more than that money can purchase. It is public knowledge that the government has increased the Old Age pension but based on the current economic situation it’s our strong belief that this needs to be re-addressed.
The second issue is that of the procedure that these seniors are subjected to every month to uplift this money. Because the amount is small, on the day that it is available they would come out in numbers and line up at various post offices for hours. This is most disturbing for us since our seniors would have contributed a lot to our society in their younger days. We are however, thankful to the NGO’s and churches that provide a little snack to them out there from time to time. While some may say that these persons can collect monies from MoneyGram and Western Union, those options are for persons living in central urban areas where it is available. We sincerely hope that this letter is read by the relevant authorities and these two concerns can be addressed, bringing some more ease and comfort to our aging population.
While raising the old age pension is a matter for budgetary allocations and parliamentary intervention, the introduction of an automatic card system can be generated for our elderly so that, at the beginning of the month, the monthly allocation can be made available antomatically through a computerized system. The card can be used to withdraw or shop at supermarkets. This, we assure you, will be welcomed because it will eliminate the discomfort of lining up.
Sincerely,
Shiron Reece
Jason Alexander
Tenesha Monah
Third year social work
students
University of Guyana
