[UPDATED] Government to align pension scheme with age 65 retirement

Black Immigrant Daily News

The content originally appeared on: Trinidad and Tobago Newsday

File photo: Attorney General Reginald Armour, SC, addressing the media at a press conference at AGLA Building, Port of Spain.

ATTORNEY General Reginald Armour, SC, has vowed to bring a bill this parliamentary year to change the retirement age from 60 to 65 years old, he said in the Senate budget debate on Friday.

While the Government’s official website still displays an undated article quoting Finance Minister Colm Imbert as having denied any plans to raise the retirement age, in his budget speech he had hinted at a rise by saying a higher retirement age already existed in Jamaica and Barbados. Repeated auditor’s reports for the National Insurance Board (NIB) had spoken of a shrinking pool of contributors alongside more claimants.

Minister in the Ministry of Finance Brian Manning held discussions with several union on the topic of increasing the retirement age earlier this year.

Promising laws for optional judge-alone trials, sufficiency hearings to replace preliminary inquiries, plus better witness protection, Armour said on Friday, “The societal and legislative reform is not to be limited only to the criminality that unfortunately we have to address in our society.

“So we will with equal priority be bringing legislation to this House aimed at protecting the more vulnerable members of our society – bills such as the Senior Citizen Pension (Amendment) Bill. It is intended to update and modernise the senior citizens pension scheme and to complement the proposed increase in the age of retirement from 60 to 65, giving our very knowledgeable and experienced senior citizens the opportunity to continue to contribute to our society.”

In an immediate response, three union leaders said they had not heard Armour’s statement but felt there were other alternatives the government should consider.

PSA head Leroy Baptiste told Newsday lamented that this was the Government’s modus operandi. He said he had to examine more completely the Government’s intention and then formulate a firm view. “It’s unfortunate. They do what they want to do, and then everybody has to react.”

Baptiste said that stakeholders such as labour should be brought into discussions at the formative stage of policy, rather than the Government declaring things and then people having to react. He said anyone could see that to raise the retirement age from 60 to 65 has implications.

“People will have planned their lives. They have expectations. What are the implications of this move and how do they intend to address them?” He said while such things should be subject to discussion, the Government was allegedly hell-bent on doing its own thing. Rather than social dialogue and collaboration, this was simple decree, he said. “It is affecting real people with real families, people with health issues.

“Imagine you have health issues and you are hoping to be away from the workplace but they tell you five more years?”

TTUTA head Antonia de Freitas told Newsday said she needed to do some research before commenting. She said a former NIB head had recently told a TTUTA teachers convention that the NIB Act already has some provisions for retirement at 65, so she was not sure what provisions Armour had been speaking of. Asked what age teachers now retire at, de Freitas said, “Teachers usually retire at age 60.”

CWU head Clyde Elder wanted more details. He said if deficiencies were fixed within the National Insurance Scheme, that might eliminate the need to raise the retirement age. Elder said a better plan would be to increase the NIS’s contributory base by creating more employment. He lamented that keeping older workers to meet a higher retirement age would further frustrate university graduates and school-leavers at present unable to find a job. Elder said in meetings with the NIB and the Government he had voiced his objection to any reduction in benefits one could access at age 60.

Armour also promised an amendment to the Firearms Bill to let prison officers carry guns off-duty. Also lined up is a bill to address the repatriation of the wives and children of men who had left TT to fight for ISIS in the Middle East.

Armour also promised a bill to expunge the criminal records of minor offenders who have sucessfully undergone a rehabilitation process, so they don’t have to carry such a stigma for their lifetime. Parole and probation will also be addressed, he said. New laws, the AG said, will also facilitate police sting operations and amend wire-tapping legislation, the Interception of Communications Act. However a new bill, already on the order paper, will allow the polygraph testing, drug testing and biometric testing of members of the protective services.

This story was originally published with the title “AG to bring law for retirement at 65” and has been adjusted to include additional details. See original post below.

ATTORNEY General Reginald Armour vowed to bring a bill this parliamentary year to change the retirement age from the current 60 to 65 years old, he said in the Senate budget debate on Friday.

Armour also promised a bill to expunge the criminal records of minor offenders who have successfully undergone a rehabilitation process, so they don’t have to carry such a stigma for their lifetime. Parole and probation will also be addressed, he said.

New laws, the AG said, will also facilitate police sting operations and amend wire-tapping legislation, the Interception of Communications Act. However a new bill, already on the order paper, will allow the polygraph testing, drug testing and biometric testing of members of the protective services.

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