THE Public Accounts Committee of Parliament sounded an alarm on June 26, when it was revealed that for 56 years, since the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) has been in existence, not a single retiree has benefitted from a pension scheme.

Chairman of the PAC Dave Tancoo, conducting an inquiry into the audited financial statements of the ADB for the financial years 2014 to 2018, said this was a breach of the Act of Parliament which established the bank in 1968.

Senator Hazel Thompson-Ahye said she could not believe that over the past 56 years, retirees went home empty handed.

Tancoo noted that thousands of people would have worked their entire lives at the ADB, which boasted of being on par with other banks, only to receive a less than adequate government pension.

Tancoo sounded an alarm after assistant auditor general Anneshah Baksh told the meeting that the only issue outstanding for the period under review was the creation of the pension scheme.

Tancoo sought answers from ADB’s corporate manager, finance and administration Gleason Garraway as to the current status of that plan.

Garraway said the cost factor to initiate the scheme was a deterrent in the past.

“Within the last year measures put in place to look at different pension schemes available and report sent to the board.

“We have put measures in place, not only to cost our pension scheme that we need to initiate, that has been initiated for the last year and a report would be sent to the board for its consideration.

“Over the years the pension scheme was not established as it was discovered to be very costly in the past. As such, the pension scheme was not formed.”

Tancoo said, “I am concerned that the pension scheme was not previously issued, especially hearing the acting CEO Wendy Samsundar-Beharry identify how long the ADB has been in existence.

“So we would have had multiplicity of individuals who would have served their entire lives working at the ADB without the benefit of a pension scheme.”

He observed that while one of the critical criteria for the band was the cost, he reminded Garraway that pension usually carries a contributory component between both employer and worker, and should have been considered at some point since 1968.

He asked Garraway what changed to have the ADB finally consider the implementation of the pension after decades of existence.

Garraway said the thought process of past management found it to be too expensive but the present management was exploring all avenues to have a scheme established.

“Especially seeing that throughout the different audits, year to year, the auditor general’s department has always advised that a pension scheme as per the act, had to be established.”

This infuriated Tancoo who said this admission reminded him, “That it was not just too expensive, it was a mandate of the Act of Parliament, so it was a requirement of the law that a pension scheme be put in place.

“It is therefore of some concern to myself, that the Act has been ignored over an extensive period of tim