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Many people were appalled, upset, and somewhat ashamed when Observer reported on an elderly man caught stealing 37 dollars worth of lingfish from a supermarket. "I...didn’t get my pension. I don’t know what came over me. I am really sorry...", the man later told a magistrate. It has yet again highlighted the chronic problem of late pension payouts by the Antigua and Barbuda Social Security Board. In this episode we speak to Junior Finance Minister Lennox Weston and a financial analyst about if and when the problems of the social security scheme could be fixed for good.

The host is Kieron Murdoch. The guests are: 

1. The Hon. Lennox Weston MP, Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance, Minister of Public Works, and MP for St. Phillip’s South. He is a former permanent secretary and a former financial secretary. His professional career outside of elective politics has been focused on public administration, financial management, and economic planning.
2. Mr. Peter Queeley, a Montserrat-based economic and financial analyst and a social and political commentator. Peter Queeley worked with the Ministry of Finance, Government of Antigua and Barbuda in the areas of budgeting and economic management, and has lectured in the areas of Micro & Macro Economics, Caribbean Business Environment, Banking and Risk Management for The University of the West Indies (UWI) through the Antigua State College and the UWI Open Campus. He is a Member of the Montserrat Social Security programme's  Board of Directors. His bachelor’s degree is in economics and his master’s degree is in financial management.

More Background:

Routinely, pensioners complain. Routinely, public officials give more apologies, more assurances, and sometimes, more excuses. "Have patience" and "pray" is what recipients were recently told by the Prime Minister's Chief of Staff. Unsurprisingly, no party and no leader has ever claimed responsibility for the ruin of the national benefit scheme. It seems that it's nobody's problem, except of course, the odd pensioner who finds themselves attempting shoplifting when their pension is again, late. Angst and frustration amongst pensioners has at times forced them onto the streets of St. John in open protest. What's wrong with Social Security' you may ask. Do you want the truth? 

The truth is that the social security scheme has been either abused, or at the very least, neglected in some way by every administration since the 1990s. Over the last 30 years, the government is (1) known to have borrowed heavily from the scheme, (2) alleged to have failed (as an employer) to pay in statutory contributions, and (3) settled debt owed to the scheme by giving it assets that do not generate enough cash to meet its monthly needs. These policy failures and malpractices over the years were in addition to the slowness of policy makers to adequately raise the retirement age and or the level of contributions that individuals must make to the scheme, as these were politically sensitive decisions. 

In recent years, the scheme has relied on routine transfers of millions of dollars a month from the central government in order to pay out on all its various monthly benefit commitments, including pensions. That money often comes from the citizenship programme's revenue. Does that sound like a financially healthy, well managed, sustainable and resilient benefit scheme to you? No. It sounds like a hot mess 30 years ongoing. 

This programme first aired on NewsCo Observer Radio 91.1 FM on October 24th, 2021. Get the latest news from Antigua and Barbuda at the Antigua Observer online.