VPAC Picks up GTT Pensioner Issue Allegedly Dropped by Both APNU & PPP Governments; Pensioners Dying…

Georgetown, Guyana — A simmering pension dispute involving more than 100 former telecommunications workers has returned to the political spotlight after a sit-down between representatives of the political group VPAC and pensioner Lloyd Hopkinson, who alleges years of injustice despite a court ruling in their favor.

At the center of the controversy are former employees of the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GTT), many of whom transitioned from public service to the privatized entity in the early 1990s. According to Hopkinson, a binding agreement at the time guaranteed that pensions would be calculated based on their final salaries at retirement. Instead, pensions were calculated using salaries from 1991, in some cases reducing expected payments by tens of thousands of dollars monthly. 

Speaking candidly during the meeting, Hopkinson described the shock pensioners experienced when they discovered the discrepancy. He said that while his salary at retirement exceeded $160,000, his pension was calculated based on a $4,000 salary from over a decade earlier, leaving him with a fraction of what he was entitled to. 

The issue has spanned multiple administrations and political parties, with both the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) and A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) implicated in delays and inaction. Hopkinson recalled that in 2014, Parliament unanimously supported a motion to address the pension shortfall, including the formation of a special committee. However, the prorogation of Parliament soon after halted progress entirely. 

Expectations rose again when APNU took office in 2015 under David Granger, but pensioners say no meaningful action followed. Hopkinson recounted a 2017 engagement where the former president reportedly acknowledged the issue and promised resolution, a commitment that, according to pensioners, was never fulfilled. 

Frustrated by years of political inertia, pensioners eventually pursued legal action. In March 2021, they secured a favorable court judgment ordering the government to honor the original agreement. Yet, according to Hopkinson, the ruling has not been enforced. He claims that an appeal was filed but never properly advanced in the courts, effectively stalling implementation. 

The human toll of the delay has been severe. Hopkinson stated that more than 100 pensioners have died while waiting for their payments, including close colleagues who, he said, “never lived to see justice.” 

The VPAC meeting brought renewed attention to what speakers described as a systemic failure of governance and accountability. Questions were raised about why successive governments, despite publicly supporting the pensioners’ cause while in opposition, failed to act once in office.

Concerns were also expressed about public financial management, with claims that funds allocated annually for pension payments go unused and are repeatedly re-budgeted without disbursement. 

For Hopkinson and others, the issue is no longer just financial but deeply personal. “Every month we meet, we wonder who will still be alive at the next meeting,” he said, underscoring the urgency of a resolution. 

As pressure mounts following the VPAC engagement, pensioners are calling for immediate enforcement of the court order and full payment of outstanding sums. The case now stands as a test of the government’s commitment to honoring legal judgments and addressing long-standing grievances among some of the country’s most vulnerable citizens.