Tourism Workers’ Pension Scheme officially launched
Published:Wednesday | January 12, 2022 | 1:57 PM
Having the potential to become the largest pension plan in Jamaica, the long-awaited Tourism Workers' Pension Scheme was officially launched this morning at the Montego Bay Convention Centre in St James.
The multi-billion-dollar project, administered by two major insurance companies in the country, Guardian Life, the administrator, and Sagicor, the investment manager, is targeting some 360,000 tourism workers.
The Government will pump $1 billion into what the scheme's chairman, Ryan Parkes, has tagged as a monumental achievement.
In his address, Parkes, while lauding tourism workers, said they must be given the opportunity to reap the rewards of their hard work and creativity in their retirement years.
He urged every eligible tourism stakeholder not to miss the opportunity to join the pension scheme.
“Retirement saving is tax-free and is designed to safeguard a more secure retirement for yourself and your families,” Parkes said.
His comments were bolstered by Guardian's president, Eric Hosin, who described the scheme as a major game-changer.
“This scheme is going to revolutionise not just the workers, but the society and their communities, and everyone in Jamaica is going to be impacted by this,” he told the gathering, which included Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett, his Permanent Secretary, Jennifer Griffiths, and the scheme's trustees.
The pension scheme, he said, represents a symbol of hope by promising tourism workers, who are currently not a part of an approved superannuation fund or approved retirement scheme, financial security during retirement.
“This scheme brings a sense of peace of mind, knowing that you and your loved ones no longer have to worry about how you will make ends meet after you have retired.”
Meanwhile, Parkes called for a national dialogue, to be led by the government, on the importance of pension in light of the low participation in private coverage in the general labour force.
He cited data from the Financial Services Commission which indicates that the current private pension coverage is estimated at 11.56 per cent as of June 2021.
“And when you look at the total employed labour force, it's just over 1.2 million. But, the total membership in the private pension business is just 140,000, so we have a lot of work to do.”
A banker by profession, Parkes said now more than ever, there needs to be urgency in the conversation.
In his address, Tourism Minister, Edmund Bartlett, under whose stewardship the pension scheme was realised, revealed that already the government has remitted more than half of the $1 billion committed to the pension fund.
He said that the allocation went to the benefit of, among other things, persons who would have been 59 and would have a maximum of five years of contributions before the pension eligibility at 65.
“And because of this fund by your government, those persons, even though they have only been contributing for five years, will be able to get $200,000 per year as though they were contributing for 20 or more years,” he told the gathering.
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