The government pension is a percentage of the recipient's salary at the time of their retirement, but given the spiraling cost of living this can hardly be sufficient.

All Guyanese on reaching the age of 65 are entitled to a pension and have only to produce proof of their age and be normally resident in Guyana to receive it. This year old age pensioners are receiving $1,910 a month, as a result of the five per cent increase in public servants' salaries, which the government announced last month.

Minister in the Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security, Bibi Shadick, makes no attempt to defend the adequacy of the old age pension, which the government pays except to say that it is not "means tested". The Cheddi Jagan administration abolished the means test in 1993.

"We know the amount in real terns cannot be sufficient to live on", she told Current Affairs in an interview for this article, but points out: "It is meant to supplement whatever resources in the way of pensions, NIS payments and assistance from children that the pensioner is in receipt of." She said that it gives a measure of independence.

According to Shadick, the number of pensioners on the roll after some 7,000 names were extracted from the list is between 31,000 and 32,000. She has tried, unsuccessfully so far, to have her Cabinet colleagues agree to increase the payment even after tightening up the pension roll. But she has not given up and is trying to formulate a better argument to persuade her Cabinet colleagues to agree to an increase in the amount of the old age pension.

In cases where the pensioner is not in receipt of payments from other sources, Shadick said, it is the responsibility of that person's children to support him/her, explaining that they have a moral and legal obligation to do so. She cited the Maintenance Act which, under Section 4, requires a man/ woman to maintain his/her mother, father and grandparents who are unable to maintain themselves. Where the person's parents were not married the children are responsible for the upkeep of the man with whom their mother openly cohabited at the time of their birth and who treated the child as if it were his own.

She said that a number of persons have been prosecuted under this Act and others, threatened with prosecution, have begun to provide for their parent(s). Shadick points out that if a pensioner has ten children and they each contribute $500 a week to their parent(s) upkeep it would be more than the assistance that her ministry provides.

Apart from the old age pension, Shadick said, pensioners can access the 'Difficult Circumstances Fund', which her ministry operates, to obtain spectacles from the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) as well as drugs which are not available at this institution and are costly, hearing aids and prostheses. However, she explained that the criterion for providing hearing aids and prostheses is the degree to which the pensioner's quality of life will be enhanced.

Those in receipt of an NIS pension can under the Scheme's extended care programme access their prescription drugs through the scheme and refund for medical expenses for the treatment of any pre-existing illness or an illness resulting from a pre-existing condition for which they were treated before age 60.

She also gave the example of a group of old people on the Essequibo coast which has been provided with seed money to help them set up a pig-rearing venture as an illustration of the other ways the ministry helps through its "Difficult Circumstances Fund".

The minister said too that the ministry's social workers assist in evaluating the means of senior citizens who apply for a reduction in water rates. Following the assessment, the recommendation is either for a 100 per cent or 50 per cent reduction in their bills. A committee comprising representatives of Guyana Water Inc, and the ministries of Housing and Water and Labour, Human Services and Social Security considers the applications. But she notes that there are cases where though the application is made in the name of a pensioner the actual users are relatives who can afford to pay for the water used.

In addition to the inadequacy of the pension, pensioners have to endure great inconvenience to receive it. It would not be unfair to describe the distribution in the past two years as chaotic with the pensioners having to wait hours to receive their books in the hot sun and without any arrangements for seating or respite from the heat.

Shadick said this year the distribution should be smoother as the social workers are not required to write up the books at the centres. This is being done at the head office. As a result, the distribution of books will not begin until next month and should be completed by the end of the month.

Shadick said that the inconvenience pensioners face is not a recent phenomenon, but the travail they endured when the post offices distributed pension books was never highlighted.

The Human Services Department has about 12 trained social workers who have at least the University of Guyana's (UG) Diploma in Social Work and a similar number, who, though not formally trained, have years of experience. Shadick indicated that there is a weekly session for staff, conducted by the assistant chief social worker, who has had some training in dealing with the aged. She explained that the session is really a review of the cases. Apart from that, some years ago a seminar on aging was conducted by Stella Odie-Alli, from the University of Guyana.

She also said that consideration would be given to exposing some of the social work staff to the course on geriatric nursing which UG"s Institute for Distance and Continuing Education runs. The danger in this is that it could improve the marketability of the social work staff, as Stabroek News understands that a large number of the course participants are person preparing to migrate. They take the course to improve their chances of finding work caring for old people.

The turnover of staff in the Social Work department is low with the majority of them having been there for a minimum of nine years; the newest staff members were employed last year.

But the bugbear for the minister is the society's neglect of its old people, which she says is more evident in the urban areas than in the rural communities.