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Elderly citizen gets his pension after all
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The Opposition says it is delighted that the case it highlighted last January involving an elderly senior citizen and his entitlement to a social security pension has now been satisfactorily resolved.
In January the Opposition highlighted the case of an elderly senior citizen who was not in receipt of a social security pension notwithstanding having paid social insurance stamps.
The man in question had been told on a previous occasion, when he tried to make an application, that he could not apply and the matter had been left there.
He met Opposition Leader Joe Bossano, on an unrelated issue, and in the course of their discussions it emerged that the pensioner had evidence that he had made the contributions and that he was therefore entitled to a pension.
Mr Bossano contacted the Social Services Department at the time and asked to speak to the official concerned with pensions to explain the circumstances and arrange an interview for the pensioner. He was told by the department that they had instructions that Mr Bossano had to write to the Social Services Minister Yvette del Agua.
The Opposition?s view was and is that on purely administrative matters, where a citizen has a right of access to an official, members of the Opposition have a right to be involved in helping this to come about.
The Opposition made the case public with the consent of the senior citizen involved, but without identifying him. Mrs del Agua, as is often the case, reacted by condemning the statements made by the Leader of the Opposition and describing them as ?politically shameless, misconceived and factually inaccurate?.
The matter was subsequently brought to the attention of the Ombudsman, who has pursued the case on behalf of the pensioner and the Opposition understands from the party involved that the entitlement to a pension has been demonstrated and the department has met the claim with full retrospection taking into consideration the fact that his previous application had not been admitted.
The Opposition is very grateful to the Ombudsman Mario Hook for the interest he has taken in this matter and wants to congratulate him for a job well done. It would also like to put on record its appreciation to the officials of the department who went through the records and were able to establish that the claim made by the pensioner was correct.
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