Defence Force vets want help

The TT Defence Force veterans are calling on the government to raise their Defence Force pensions or reduce their qualifying age to collect National Insurance Scheme (NIS) pensions. The veterans held a workshop at the Bon Accord Multi-purpose Centre on Saturday and chatted with Tobago veterans as they seek to come to a consensus on the issues affecting them and chart a way forward to address their concerns.

Speaking at the meeting were TT Defence Force Veterans interim chairman Sydney Alexander, Peter Fletcher, Cecil Thomas, Lester Johnson, Dominique Taylor, Rommel Blackmann, Wilbert Guilford and Cyril Davis.

Speaking to Newsday on Monday, veteran Tailor said, "We called them together to have a presentation to form a Tobago chapter. There are lots of issues retirees having such as health issues, housing, pension issues and these kinds of things. It's about sensitising on what the government can do for us and what the retirees can do for the country in terms of all the crime happening."

Tailor said veterans in TT are underutilised after retirement and can still make positive contributions to the country with the skills they acquired while in service.

"There are a lot of professionals out here: lawyers, security-trained people, mentorship, we have psychologists and fellas out here with all kind of things. We can still contribute. We are underutilised and we are underpaid."

He said a lot of veterans have financial problems owing to the early retirement age and the meagre pensions they receive.

"We are the youngest retirement age in the country at 45. If you're a corporal and you don't get promotion you go home at 45. A sergeant goes home at 47...Only the top brass could go home at 55. You have to wait until 60 for NIS. A lot of them, they gone home and between 55 and 60 they die.

"It is frustration for those that retired between 1970s and 1990, and a lot of them are still alive. It is frustration, especially for those who haven't reached the age of 60, because they not getting NIS and their pension small."

He said their next plan of action is to use their numbers to lobby the relevant authorities.

"We need to sensitise the Government of the day. There are over 2,000 of us so unity is strength. Coming together and understanding what it is and what's going on, we want to go to Central Government. We have served, we have protected this country and we are asking if we can get an increase (in pension) or if there is some adjustment that can be made. So we can get the NIS at age 47 or age 50 instead of waiting to age 60."

Tailor said the veterans can be incorporated into youth programmes to instil discipline and show them how to stay focused.

"We have people like myself who do a lot of training with the youths, so we can assist in mentorship programmes in the schools and youth camps. We can guide and train the instructors. We can guide them because we have a formula and we know it works."

He added, "We gonna do a debrief this week. If we have concerns, we record it and on our way forward we want to have a discussion with the Chief of Defence Staff. We want to have a discussion with the Minister of National Security and Commissioner of Police Gary Griffith and the Minister of Education and the social (services) people too."