Government pensioners to get $500 Christmas bonus
(CNS): Premier Juliana O’Connor-Connolly said the UPM government had approved a one-off Christmas bonus of CI$500 for all former civil servants receiving a public pension in recognition of the contributions they made to build the country. Speaking on the floor of parliament Wednesday, she said the money for the bonus was coming from savings made elsewhere in the government’s human resource expenditure. It would be “budget neutral” and paid to around 2,500 people.
Deputy Governor Franz Manderson told the House that the payment has been approved under the Public Finance Act by Cabinet based on savings made across the service and will be processed and paid before Christmas. He confirmed that the cost is just over CI$1.2 million and that the government remains compliant with the law.
The premier said these public sector retirees, from firefighters to teachers, receiving the ex gratia payment were not forgotten, and the bonus was a small token to demonstrate the country’s gratitude.
While pensioners, in particular, suffer significantly from the impacts of inflation, those receiving a public service pension have faired better than those in the private sector because their pensions are increased in line with inflation. The premier said that since 2022, they had received an increase of 15.5% to cover the inflation over the last few years.
This latest payment follows announcements about a Christmas bonus for civil servants and those on social welfare. In the New Year, another COLA will be rolled out for civil servants and employees of several public authorities, including the Health Services Authority.
The hospital, which continues to lose money, will also be giving its 1,400 workers a one-time bonus of $2,000 at a cost of around CI$2.8 million.
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Category: Government Finance, Politics
I think I should run for the LA but just be completely transparent. I’ll run in Northside, East End of the Brac, and just say my only policy manifesto is tht if elected I’ll immediately give $1000 to every registered voter in my district. At least it would be honest and I would be using my money rather than the taxpayers. And with how much these fat cats pay themselves and the obvious side hussle opportunities, especially if I was a swing vote for a narrow majority government, I would recover the expenditure in no time.
I don’t know about Northside, but you won’t get elected in CB East if you don’t live here.
Does Juliana love there?
Live there I meant. She lives in GCM and represents CBE
She has two houses in CBE, is often seen sitting outside with her family there. The church she attends is there. Yes, she lives there.
Dont know about others pensioners, but I know I didn’t get 15.5 % increase since 2022, not even half of that. It’s a crying shame we pensioners worked 20 plus years and never got any bonuses, now gets 500 $ and the so call workers gets 2,000. When we was working, we worked hard always on time, these days are different, most are late, goes in shops eating on Govt time. never even wants to answer their phones, some been working for a few months and getting 2,000 . very sad.
Should have been 2000 for retirees and 500 for the others.
Remember folks this was passed by the minority government and their friends. Where do we go from here. The government is a cash cow whilst insolvent at the same time. In most worlds it is a Ponzi scheme. Ask CIMA what they are. They are the experts
Poor Madam Governor claims she’s taking on corruption… Like where do you even start on the matter!? It’s rampant!
Vote buying in real time…
Cayman we have a Revenue Problem, there is so much Revenue our politicians continue to be able to spend it irresponsibly and many many dollars seemingly slide out of the side and back doors as well as any windows the politicians can find to throw money to friends and relatives.
Our Members of Parliament need to address the inadequacies of the private pension system they enacted, which is currently failing the people of the Cayman Islands—both private sector retirees and those from government-owned companies.
The existing frameworks for private pensions and health insurance are not fit for purpose, specifically for retirees who did not earn substantial incomes. This has left many Caymanian retired private sector employees in a precarious position, with pensions that do not sufficiently support them and health insurance that is prohibitively expensive.
As a result, many are rapidly depleting their hard-earned savings just to afford health coverage. Without intervention, these individuals face the prospect of destitution before the end of their lives. We must demand reforms to ensure that retirees can live with dignity and security, rather than facing financial ruin due to flawed systems.
We need better, sustainable solutions now.
Yes, we do, however what I suspect is that unless we have an MP in our familial portfolio, we are going to wage a race between starvation and denied health care.
My spouse and me worked hard here all our lives. Saved where we could. Our pension funds both lost huge amounts of money, and we were assured that it would soon balance out. It never did. It was a poor investment that we were forced to pay. I always wished we could enjoy the high interest rates of the CI credit union.
Now, we have nothing, and no hope for that to change. One of us will die alone, and that will be our story. Thanks for nothing, you smiling politicians who play with millions of dollars without a single solitary care for the Caymanian people. I am a Christian, so I won’t wish for you to experience what we are enduring.
Merry Christmas.
Given that ‘Honourable’ members of Parliament changed the law some time ago to allow themselves to ‘double dip’ it seems reasonable to assume that she is taking home $50,000 per month not $35K.
Pigs at the trough who have the ability to increase the amount of our money going into the trough any time they want. That has to stop!
https://archive.caymannewsservice.com/2010/08/24/mlas-are-double-dipping/
Imagine Cayman Premier take home pay is more than UK Prime Minister.
And more than President of USA
These bunch are the worst elected government that these islands have ever had. I have never seen such wastage of funds, and blatantly so. Is anyone monitoring Jay Ebanks expenditure on roads? At very turn there is another lane to accommodate the influx of people being imported here for seemingly nonexistent jobs! There are hundreds of people wandering around without employment but having work permits. Who is monitoring this? Where are the safeguards in work permit processes, where are enforcement officers? These islands have become lawless and mired in corruption, sad to say.
LG & Fred are monitoring it as they need these workers. You always picking on these hard working people.
I am for one believe we need President Trump to place some of his cabinet ministries here in cayman. This swamp needs draining. This is far from being being ridiculous now. Some of us in the private sector haven’t seen a raise in years and we are busting our asses off to make profits for these inconsiderate owners. Where is the Governor? She is supposed to govern these islands to ensure the island is being managed with good fiscal prudences? Or is this the plan madam governor to allow these idiots to bankrupt us and it’s an open door for the Uk to take control? Btw opposition we the public watching you and the lack of opposing.
Meritless appointees are already helming these positions, paying themselves double, busily redacting financials, blocking FOI requests, and burying liabilities.
10.48pm “Some of us in the private sector haven’t seen a raise in years”. Then change employers. Don’t expect Cayman Govt to give you a raise, that is the responsibility of your private sector boss.
She’s a f.. N joke, one of the highest paid leaders ( that’s if you want to call her one) in the world, now she’s giving monies away like water.
They talk about Caymanians being hired by businesses, why not use these funds to pay for their education overseas.
I wonder how much she’s going to give next wait that stupid idea of 75mil for a school in the Brac. WTf!
I ha e noticed though that our persons in her party aren’t complaining, I wonder what bonuses they are getting. Bunch of corupt un educated donkeys but I supposed we all voted. Well I did t for her to be leader anyway.
Not sure I wanna say this but Mac and Alden are better leaders than this tw@t and I wouldn’t want to wish any country to have them as leaders.
has anyone noticed that the Ombudsman office is shutting down for the Holidays.
How can this happened. How can a watchdog close their office.
11 @10:48pm – Office of the Ombudsman?! That’s a joke! Novice law students as “investigators”??
If indeed they are qualified law degree holders, they work like novice law students! My experience!
@10:08 am
I think you are right! That Office of the Ombudsman is indeed a joke. Maybe the investigators are novice law students but perhaps the greater query relates to the qualification and experience of the post holder for that position. What is her track record in employment? Why did her employment at Immigration end? Is a Cayman law school degree along with whatever her employment history is, sufficient to land her in such a lofty position, after failed runs for political office? Just asking.
Please make it stop! This lunatic needs to get her hands out of the public purse!
And the carnival 🎡 continues!!! Congratulations to the Ambassador of Absurdistan for his outstanding service and diligence to sink the finances of the territory !
Thanks as well for the outstanding support that the Governor offered to the Ambassador of Absurdistan in the Cayman islands, such leadership is the stuff national heroes are made of in Absurdistan
Hey, pensioners are voters too you know.
Never been clearer cases of electioneering in my memory here
Wow talk about spending money like a drunken sailer. Paying out bonus’s left right and centre. Let’s not forget paid days off for Christmas parties let alone the cost of the Parties.
MERRY CHRISTMAS
Miss Honorable Julie & Honorable Jon-Jon, please give us all a $500 bonus, me needs it bad. Thank you
any comment ppm?
any comment Mrs governor?
any comment chamber of commerce?
seems only private sector suckers not getting a handout for xmas….ppl that actually do real work and keep cayman going!..
anyway just another day in wonderland….zzzzzz
Has anyone in the private sector received a 15.5% management cost of living bump in comp over the last two years? Seems unheard of.
Whose fault is it that private employers won’t pay staff what they should?
The private sector had to balance their books, not like our government who are borrowing funds. They would borrow more except the UK oversight won’t let them – remember thatJuJu wants to be released from those ‘chains’.
It is partly the fault of CIG, who refuses to raise the minimum wage above $6.00, primarily because they all have businesses which exploit the low-paid expats, and secondarily because the CIG is addicted to WP fees.
Lucky if I get the usual 2-4%. Decent pay rises are rare and bonuses virtually non-existent these days.
So by withholding scholarship payments from our students in tertiary education, they remain teetering on the edge of being compliant with the PMFL.
#fiscalprudence
In fairness, Ken Jefferson has already openly confessed to an ongoing conspiracy with consecutive Cabinets to withhold >$2bln in maturing liabilities from the CIG Balance Sheet. The reason given, was expressly to maintain passing semblance of compliance with PMFL and FFR. Without that enormous omission, our debt to GDP ratio would stand at well over 300%, Compare to the next closest, Japan, currently leading the world at 264%, or 2nd place Venezuela at 241%, or even 3rd place Sudan at 186% and tell me this wouldn’t be used as a front page bold font international financial headline example of unprecedented and determined imprudence.
Criminal maladministration, even?
The entire Parliament is trying to tax the financial services sector to pave over their own internal financial coverup. The irony is that all of that sector relocates overnight on the headline heard around the world, and then whoever’s left in Cayman gets the bill that can’t be paid at <20% of preceeding year's GDP. That's based on tourism and still with untracked limited stamp duty and 30 year hotel tax waivers to preferred swindling developers…we'll never guess who is standing there for years in the wings, awaiting this inevitable vulture banquet? Rhymes with Fart.
To be fair the amount you are referring to is future money owed – and even that total is a projection over decades, its not like anyone is showing up tomorrow looking for $2bn+ due. Its a perfectly manageable amount if we start putting money aside and plan in anticipation. Even a small amount set aside annually could put a huge dent in that number in the long term
The real issue you should be criticising is that every government operates on a narrow 4 year view and actively blows money in the short term on wasteful vanity projects and mismanages the few decent projects that get approved.
Also I don’t know what sort of math you are undertaking here but $2.2 billion in future healthcare liabilities and 300 million in unfunded pension liabilities are not, even when added to our other various debts anywhere near 300% of our GDP considering our GDP is at or above 6 billion according to various estimates, the sort of sweeping comment you are making is undermined by this failure to do basic math.
Robbing Peter to pay Paul is unsustainable. Without honest reporting and reputation-based finance, tourism revenue amounts to less than 20% of GDP, solve for X, when you have a grasp of the post-Finance liability number, and we hope then you’ll returning then to chirp in defence of that well earned ratio and the accuracy of the prognostication.
1:13, are you sure these jurisdictions you quote approvingly include their pension provision liabilities in their balance sheets? Many countries don’t….like Cayman. Note, I’m not defending Jefferson who is in a non job of Financial Secretary and isn’t much good at it but apples need to be compared to apples not bananas.