Verla DePeiza Endorses Ryan Walters as the DLP Presidential Candidate: A Plan for Rebuilding and Renewal

She said people in the country were depending on the DLP to stand up and speak on their behalf.

“….And it goes beyond the critical; you can’t just be criticising. Our people want to know what you are going to do, so we have to have processes put in place. As I read Ryan’s manifesto, I get that sense and understanding of the ability to manage the two and I am particularly keen on the fact that he has experience in finance,” DePeiza said.

‘I know the Democratic Labour Party will be called upon one more time to rescue this country. We just have to position ourselves and make sure that we are viable at that moment. We need to be in a position to show that we can meet that very weighty requirement.”

During his address to the gathering, Walters lambasted the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) administration for its handling of the National Insurance Scheme (NIS), saying that it was “99.9 per cent responsible” for the current state of the NIS Fund. He said actions taken by the Government had put the Fund in an even worse position than it was five years ago.

“If you refer to the Actuarial Report for the period ending 2014, the reserves of the National Insurance Scheme would have been exhausted in 39 years. If you refer to the Actuarial Report for the period ending 2017, the reserves of the NIS would have been depleted in 34 years. But if you turn to the Actuarial Report ending 2020, after the debt restructuring of this Government, the reserves of the National Insurance Scheme would have been exhausted in 16 years,” he charged.

The NIS issue has been a hot topic since Minister of Labour Colin Jordan announced on July 28 that the pensionable age will move to 67 ½ years in 2028 and then to 68 years in 2034 and that the number of contributions needed to be eligible for pension will move from 500 weeks to 750 weeks.

Jordan said the moves were necessary to prevent depletion of the NIS Fund.

But Walters reiterated that the BLP, which was returned to office in 2018 in the first of two straight landslide election victories, was to blame for the situation being what it is.

“They are responsible. They are accountable because even though we had challenges in the National Insurance Scheme, their singular action has shaved 18 years off of the life of the NIS and then you are to pay for it.

“The decision cumulatively affected the NIS by $2 billion almost. But to make matters worse, the choices on how to resuscitate our NIS were even more damaging to our livelihoods… to our mental health and to our approach to work. It will change our approach to working,” he said.

The business executive said the average Barbadian was being asked to invest more yet they are getting “very little in return”.

“These measures are unnecessary and I challenge the Government to come to us and tell us what these measures will result in. What will the Fund look like in 10, 15, 20 or 25 years with these measures?

“They have taken the easy way out as usual. This is a government that did not seek to grow this economy. They came in and wrote off debt to make their balance sheet look better. They came in and tax you to raise revenue. They came in and wrote off debt from the business class and put the pressure on you,” he insisted.

Walters suggested, among other things, that if employment was handled the right way, that would be the key to fixing many of the problems.

“What does it take to resuscitate the National Insurance Scheme? If we can get employment done right, if we can treat to labour how it is supposed to be treated to, it would resolve many of our social and economic issues, including the state of the National Insurance,” he contended.

(BT)