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Adam Harris and others should be paid their due

Nov 17, 2008 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,
The issue of the non-payment of pension entitlement to Adam Harris has been brought to my attention.
It is my view that if the man has fulfilled the requirements for a pension (or severance pay) through his employment at a state agency, then he should get it.

Admittedly, I do not know the reason(s) for non-payment of his claim of a pension, or even if he is legally entitled to one. But the man claims he is entitled to a pension, and presumably filed for one.

If it was determined that he was not entitled to a state pension, then he should have been so informed by the appropriate state board, and he should have been given an opportunity to file an appeal. 

I should note that Dr. Fenton Ramsahoye, in an interview with me for a newspaper column, told me he was denied his pension entitlement. 

He served as Attorney General under the PPP Administration, and in Parliament in the late 1950s and 60s thru the early 1970s.  He claimed he was not paid his benefits. 

Similarly, Balram Singh Rai, who also served as a minister of government with Dr. Ramsahoye, had informed Dr. Baytoram Ramharack who wrote his biography, “Against the Grain”, that he had not been paid his pension, to which he feels he is entitled.

Rai lost his seat in Parliament in December 1964, following a public spat with the then ruling PPP. 
He led the Justice Party, which did not win a seat.

While not pronouncing on the behaviour of the state or insinuating any negatives against any state entity or individual, I do not think people should be penalized financially (a la withholding of benefits) for their political views or their past or previous political affiliations. 

The state should review the files of those individuals who had (have) a legitimate right to a state pension and effectuate retroactive payments.

Vishnu Bisram

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