$32M for port pensioners

Speaking at yesterday’s post-Cabinet news conference, Works Minister Colm Imbert said the former workers retired in the 1970s.

He said one group, consisting of about 600 workers, had a pension plan that did not allow for index rating. They would each receive $350 a month going back five years and going forward for the next five years. Imbert said the other group of workers accepted the voluntary separation package. They would receive a lumpsum of $10,000 each.

Imbert said although it was determined that Government was not legally obligated to do this, the Cabinet felt that the ex-gratia payment was a just and equitable form of assistance for people who had made a contribution to the country.