Local Government Minister, Nigel Dharamlall has announced that systems will be put in place to ensure that pensioners are able to collect their pensions closer to home and with less hassle.
Dharamlall made this disclosure during an outreach over the weekend in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam).
The Minister told residents that he is aware that senior citizens have to travel long distances and join long lines at the few Post Offices in the Region in order to collect their pensions.
As such, he noted that very soon, a more easily accessible payment system will be put in place. “We are working with the regional administration to ensure that the cashiers go out to the villages and make these payments rather than the pensioners having to travel long hours.”
In this regard, the Minister further stated this is an issue that is being faced throughout the country.
“These pensioners travel for miles under harsh conditions to collect their old age pension and which is putting tremendous pressure on them… we are working towards providing that service to them in their villages which will allow them to save on time and money.”
There are four post offices in Region Two – one each at Charity, Anna Regina, Queenstown and Aurora.
Pensioners have since welcomed the new arrangement, claiming that they had to leave home very early to get to the post offices so that they could finish in a timely manner.
Most times, they leave home without having breakfast.
