Commissioner of Social Affairs in Saba, Ronaldo Wilson is of the opinion that pensioners on the island should not be the victim of the Constitutional Restructuring which took place in 2010.

“As Commissioner of Social Affairs, it is my duty to make a statement on the recent developments regarding the 3.5% reduction of pension benefits by the PCN. This reduction and the expected 12% reduction by 2018 will have immediate consequences for pensioners, who as civil servants were guaranteed a secured pension when they retired. Now, this pension is no longer secure and this is unacceptable”, said Wilson yesterday, April 13, in a statement to the media.

Wilson also said he was calling on Minister Plasterk and State Secretary Klijnsma to reconsider their decision to allow these reductions to go into effect. “We cannot continue to promise a fair standard of living and at the same time rob pensioners and future pensioners of what they are entitled to”, according to Wilson.

The commissioner is of the opinion that it is the responsibility of the Dutch Government to reassess this situation and look for alternative measures to correct what went wrong in 2010. According to Wilson the pensioners were promised they would not fall victim to the constitutional restructuring, but because of the measures now implemented, this promise has not been made true.