Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre has lauded the National Insurance Corporation (NIC) over its Friday Golden Citizen Programme relaunch.
According to the NIC, the programme aims to augment the its pension’s economic and purchasing power, mainly due to rising inflation.
It started in 2004 under the then Director Emma Hippolyte.
The NIC has partnered with the business community to provide pensioners with goods and services discounts.
Prime Minister Pierre has encouraged Government pensioners to take advantage of the initiative through the Retired Persons’ Association.
“To the 60+ businesses which have provided the discounts, thank you for supporting those who have served our country,” Pierre wrote on Facebook.
He said the retired, elderly, and vulnerable groups remain a priority to his government.
” We recognize that global inflation acutely affects our pensioners, and we are proposing measures that will allow for increases in line with public servants during negotiations with unions. The NIC has already given a 4.2% increase to all of its pensioners, whilst we have given one-off payments of $500 and $600 in 2022 and 2023, respectively,” Pierre noted.
“We will continue to be a government of compassion and provide support, particularly to the most vulnerable,” Pierre, Minister of Finance, declared.
In addition to NIC retirement pensioners, the Golden Citizens programme is also open to government pensioners who are members of the St Lucia Association of Retired Persons (SLARP).
The NIC has announced that it will register qualified retirement pensioners to receive their gold cards and make detailed announcements regarding registration locations and dates through local and NIC social media platforms.
Lots of talk. It remains to be seen whether or not genuine actions will really follow. Stay tuned.
Retired as a banana farmer, can you fit me in please ??
A question I asked ee
The poor will always remain in the dark .
Lord help the poor to see the light
Why should I be against this? My father is benefitting from this ans I love it.
This is not for labar alone, uwp is also benefitting.
By the way, why Chas could not do this?