Dear Editor,

As a pensioner, I’m writing to draw attention to a change which the management of GuySuCo has made in the payment method for its pensioners which is causing us very serious inconvenience and worse than inconvenience. Instead of paying us at the Community Centre in envelopes they are now sending the payments to the bank.

 

Editor, pensioners are arguing that when a new system is implemented, they must benefit from it.  They cite a case where the late Dr Fidel Castro of Cuba, in introducing machines to cut cane, stated that one of the reasons for the change was to get rid of the back-breaking work of cutting and dropping. In other words, the change was to make things better for them.

Far from bringing us any benefits, the change that GuySuCo has made in its method of payment is making our lives more difficult. To open a bank account many things are required, including a TIN certificate from GRA. One pensioner complains that he has applied for the certificate and has been waiting over three weeks to receive it. Another pensioner claims that he is unable to afford the fee that is required to open new accounts. A third says that he lives alone and has no one to assist him in going through the complicated process that is required to open a bank account.

The pensioners collectively claim that they are the majority and they are not comfortable with the new system. Give the majority what they want. Do not use the minority to suppress the majority nor the majority to suppress the minority.

Yours faithfully,

James Blair

Pensioner