MINISTER CONFIRMS CIVIL SERVICE PENSION REFORM

FROM PAGE B1 will require new civil service hires to contribute a portion of their income to fund their own retirement, will be improved compared to the existing pay-as-yougo provisions. Existing civil servants will still be entitled to benefits under their existing pensions and National Insurance Board (NIB) payments. However, if they opt in to the new plan they will be eligible for those benefits as well.

Ms Glover-Rolle said:

“Ideally, the way this will work is that the benefits will be larger, on average, than those experienced under the existing plan, and will also be proportionate to the amount the public servant contributes.

“The more you contribute, the more you will receive. Existing public servants will still be entitled to their current pension plan, as well as NIB. They will be able to opt in to this plan so that when they retire they will receive

NIB benefits, the existing pension plan benefits, as well as the expanded benefits from the contributory pension plan.”

Ms Glover-Rolle added new public servants will be brought on under the new pension plan, which is designed to be portable. She said: “New public servants will be streamlined into the contributory pension plan, which will provide better benefits in a financially sustainable way for the beneficiary, as well as the Government.

“The plan is also intended to be portable. This means that if someone starts their career with the Government but then decides to explore private sector opportunities, they can take the plan with them and even begin to contribute more so that they can receive more benefits upon retirement.”

Simon Wilson, the Ministry of Finance’s financial secretary, previously voiced optimism to Tribune Business that legislation to here. I think over the past few months revenue has declined.”

Ms Pickstock added that the current ATM is old and there are challenges obtaining the parts to repair it. She called for at least an additional ATM machine to service the residents of North and Central Andros.

“We only have one ATM machine here and I think that is becoming obsolete; they have difficulties finding parts for it,” she said.

“They need to put more ATMs in North Andros, at least two, because we also have persons from Central Andros coming here to do their banking.”

Reverend Raymond Neilly said the lack of access to banking facilities reform public service pensions - including moving all new civil service hires to a defined contribution scheme, where they will contribute to their own retirement savings - could be ready for presentation to Cabinet by September this year.

A new line item in the Ministry of Finance’s 20232024 Budget is a $10m allocation for “employee pension contributions”, and the financial secretary confirmed this sum is to cover the Government’s share of payments on behalf of new hires as well as public sector workers “normally not covered” by a government pension such as weekly workers and local government staff.

“If we get the legislation passed this year, we will be in a position to start the defined contribution plan. That will be for new entrants,” Mr Wilson added. “It’s [the legislation] almost completed.

“We have to do some consultation with the public service unions. It’s more so for new entrants, and persons normally not vested in a government pension plan. We have a number of government employees not participating; weekly

Assessment (EIA) containing coastline, noise and other studies just two days prior to last week’s public consultation as it meant attendees had little to no time to study the documents and see if concerns raised from the 2021 meeting were incorporated in the plans.

“I believe all environmental advocates did what they need to do in terms of presenting the gaps in the project. It was a matter of us presenting the gaps, and the DEPP now having the EIA modified to address them in a sustainable way so that everybody is supportive of the amendments,” the Waterkeepers Bahamas executive director said.

“One of the things I wasn’t satisfied with is that I read their EIA and report from the previous consultation, and two days before this consultation they released a supplemental EIA, which was unfair. We need to track any changes so that we know where our concerns have been addressed.”

Ms Ingraham said she personally raised concerns about turtle nesting sites, is impacting the business community and parishioners’ ability to pay offerings. He added that as a senior citizen he has to endure standing in line for hours, sometimes with the machine going out of service, before he can conduct a transaction.

He said: “The ATM is up now, and then by tomorrow it’s down, and it’s the only banking facility that we have - an ATM that is not functioning properly, sometimes for a week. We can’t access our funds at all. We have money in the bank but we cannot access our funds.

“It’s impacting the business places, it’s impacting the offerings in the churches, its impacting our children going to school and workers, school Boards, livery services, worker for local government who are not normally pensionable.

“You have quite a few persons not normally pensionable. It’s a challenge.. persons who work for 20, 25 and 30 years and get nothing when they leave. We have to get it finalised, drafted and consulted, and then it will be in a position to go to Cabinet hopefully by September this year. Hopefully.” and how increased use of western Paradise Island by Royal Caribbean’s passengers could impact the breakwater protecting Nassau’s harbour from storm surges and high wave energy.

The Government has long had its woes with unfunded civil service pension liabilities, which previous research by the KPMG accounting firm suggested would likely have reached $2bn by this stage without any reforms. Civil servants presently contribute nothing to their retirement, which are being funded by Bahamian taxpayers at the sum of $134.744m in the 2023-2024 Budget.

The IMF, in its Article IV report in 2018, agreed that the current system - where civil servants contribute nothing to funding their retirement - is “unsustainable”. And it called five years ago for “decisive measures.... to reduce debt”, singling out public sector pensions and health as two areas deserving close attention.

“I’m hoping that Bahamians are beginning to understand and appreciate that this is a process,” she added of the DEPP consultation. “It’s not this ‘for and against’ a project. It’s a process of trying to create a project that has limited impact on the environment.

“I would like for there, after Royal Caribbean would have looked at some of the questions and comments submitted to them, to be another consultation process for them to show where they have adopted those recommendations for filling in the gaps. It really depends on how they look at this second round of suggestions and how they address these to see if they are really serious about ESG and environmental impact. The ball is in their court.”

I, for example, am a senior citizen and I have stood in the line at the ATM.. one day for two-and-a-half hours and it went down.”

Reverend Neilly called for the Government to assist in resolving these issues, and warned that residents will protest if no action is taken.

He said: “We are saying here in North Andros that it’s supposed to be one Bahamas, that we are one nation, and why should we because of our population have to suffer in this kind of way? We believe that the same way the Government subsidises Bahamasair to fly to certain islands because of their small population, we believe that we are entitled to proper banking facilities; modern banking facilities on North Andros just like other parts of The Bahamas.

“The civil servants’ pension system is unsustainable,” the Fund warned. “Government employees draw pensions at retirement without contributing to the system while employed.

Staff analysis in the 2016 Article IV Staff report noted that accrued government pension liabilities totaled $1.5bn in 2012, and would rise to $3.7bn by 2030 as the population ages.”

The IMF called for reforms that involve “moving to a contributory regime in the near term, and to a defined-contribution scheme in the mediumterm”. This would require civil servants to contribute a portion of their salary to funding their retirement, rather than having this financed 100 per cent by the taxpayer through the Budget as is done currently.

Ms Glover Rolle, meanwhile, yesterday also revealed that a public service audit is nearing completion and that the digitisation of the public service will lower turnaround times.

She said: “A public service-wide audit is nearing completion, which will inform major recruitment and training efforts, as well

“We are standing together as a people saying that government must help us. That is what the Government is there to do. Yes, we can try our best to solve our problems, but surely the elected officials are to make their presence known and they are to hear the cries of the people, and not just to hear their cries but to respond to our cries and let us know what are you going to do about our banking situation “

“And we want concrete answers. What is going to happen to us in North Andros? To whom do we appeal if we cannot appeal to those elected to represent us? It is critical here, and otherwise there is going to be a massive protest from the people of North Andros.” as human resources policies moving forward.

“Digitisation efforts were initiated this year, and we are now moving full speed ahead with the digitisation of hundreds of thousands of files within the Ministry. When we are done, estimates indicate we should expect a significant boost in efficiency as we automate workflows and digitise files for quick and secure access. The end result will be faster processes for every area of public service.”

She added that this process will include a human resource management system that will ensure greater accountability.

Ms Glover-Rolle said:

“Another phase of our digitisation efforts is the introduction of a human resources management information system that is being led by the Ministry of Finance, in tandem with the Ministry of Public Service. This system will allow for greater accountability.

“This system will allow for ease of access for employees accessing their files and human resource matters. Most importantly, this will allow for authentication and verification of employees across the public service.”