Enill announces pension reform project

THE Trinidad and Tobago Government has embarked on a wide-ranging pension reform programme which would require changes in the structure of the pension system in the country. In making the announcement, Junior Finance Minister Conrad Enill said that with the exception of the National Insurance Scheme, many pension funds in the country were inadequately funded “so that many of our citizens do not have an adequate minimum level of retirement income.” Enill gave the feature address at the launch yesterday of the Banking, Insurance and a General Workers’ Union (BIGWU) Pensions General Council which is designed to address the prudent management and investment of pension funds, to ensure maximum financial returns.

Enill told his audience of core trade union leaders from BIGWU that once it is put in place, he expects the reform would increase the equity and efficiency of the pension system for retirees; ensure a financially viable system in the short-term and in the long-term; encourage transparency, so that the financial implications for the Government as well as for the public at large are well understood by the national community and enhance the quantum of savings. “We need to get our pension reform right... it represents an important component of our social agenda,” said Enill.

He disclosed that Government recently appointed a working group to oversee, manage and guide the reform process and to ensure the timely implementation of the pension reforms. The working group has trade union representation. Enill said he was well aware of BIGWU’s concern for social cohesion. “It is a lesson from history that social cohesion can only be sustained in an environment which guarantees secure income for all — employees, retirees, the aged and the infirm,” he said. Enill praised BIGWU for its active public debate on the pension reform process.