STUNG by criticism from the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP), Accountant General Anya Jones yesterday maintained that the 3,000 central government pensioners who did not receive their December payments were the ones at fault.

Jones said in a press statement she was aware that some pensioners were not paid on the scheduled December 2020 payday, but it was “due to non-submission of life certificates”.

At the same time, Jones urged the affected pensioners to return their life certificates and promised that the department “will assess each situation and provide the best solution to ensure payment in the shortest possible time”.

The pensioners complained bitterly through one of their members that they had been robbed of the joy of Christmas festivities because the Accountant General’s Department (AGD) was late in sending them the vital life certificates, without which they could not receive their December cheques.

Their plight was outlined in a Jamaica Observer news story Monday, titled “How the Grinch stole Christmas”, following which the PNP’s Julian Robinson, the Opposition spokesman of finance, lashed the AGD for its tardiness.

Robinson suggested that a delay in the payment spelt untold and unnecessary hardship” for the pensioners, especially in the Christmas season.

“The vast majority of these pensioners depend solely on their pension payment to survive and in particular to purchase food and medication and are now suffering as a result of the non-payment of their pension,” the PNP spokesman said.

Robinson urged the Government to immediately release payments to the thousands of Government pensioners who did not receive their pension cheques or deposits for the month of December.

Putting a positive spin on the matter, Jones said the AGD pays approximately 35,000 retired central government employees monthly and that for the month of December, over 32,000 pensioners who submitted their life certificates for the period “were delighted to receive their pension payment early, some as early as December 16, 2020”.

That meant that some 3,000 pensioners, and not 2,500 as reported by the newspaper, did not get their December cheques.

“We are mindful that our clients have served their country and deserve to be treated with dignity. We continue to urge pensioners who, for one reason or another, had difficulties submitting a life certificate for the October to December 2020 period to make contact with us,” Jones urged.

“We will then assess each situation and provide the best solution to ensure payment in the shortest possible time,” she said.

“Pension life certificates are essential to the pension payment process by which retired central government workers receive their monthly pension. The life certificate is an official document used to verify that a pensioner is still alive and therefore eligible to receive a pension from the Government of Jamaica.

“Every central government pensioner must submit a life certificate to ensure the continuation of his/her pension. The AGD is continuously improving our service delivery to ensure that our pensioners have ample time to receive, complete and return the life certificate document to the Department.

“In May 2019, we commenced mailing the life certificate two months in advance. For the pension payments for the period October to December 2020, the life certificates were mailed in August 2020 to be returned by end of October 2020, allowing September and October to receive and return the document.

“The AGD is cognisant of new challenges that have arisen since COVID-19 and is working with our partners to find solutions. We currently have access to a Justice of the Peace in-house to assist with certifying the documents, and we also provide visits to pensioners who are unable to conduct business on their own.”

Further, Jones appealed to pensioners who are not in receipt of their life certificates to contact the AGD, “as we have been making every effort to mail the certificates in a timely manner”.

But Robinson faulted the AGD, insisting that he knew pensioners who submitted their life certificates and received payments for October and November but none in December.

“The issue is clearly a fault with the Accountant General’s Department and needs to be resolved quickly. The Opposition is urging the Government not to prolong the worries of pensioners by waiting until the next payment due date in January 2021 to make the disbursements.

“Further delay will only cause untold hardship to the pensioners who would have already gone two months without receiving a payment. This will add to the stress levels of those who have been isolated by stay-at-home orders and are already predisposed to mental stress,” he said.