Commissioner of Finance Roy Marlin welcomed the assurance given by a representative of the General Pension Fund of the Netherlands Antilles APNA during a presentation to the Central Committee of the Antillean Parliament, that APNA has enough funds to fully meet all its obligations in conformity with the pension ordinance for the next five years.
Due to the global financial crisis of 2008, APNA lost 36 per cent in value of the foreign investments it had which amounted to US$300 million (Naf.540 million) in the last months of 2008 which it had built up in the period 2003-2007.
"This is very serious business as in many and if not most cases, a pension is the only source of income for our senior citizens. The global financial crisis has impacted basically everyone directly and indirectly. When the pension fund of the Antilles looses more than a half billion guilders in investment value, it’s an eye opening scary experience.
"APNA needs to hold information sessions on each Antillean island where pensioners reside. These people need to be fully assured that their pensions are safe. They may have many questions that they would like answered. They need to fully understand how the Antillean pension system functions in order for them to continue to have confidence in the system. They need transparency in order to allay their fears and worries of whether they will be getting a pension next month or next year.
"Our pensioners listen to the news on a daily basis and they know what is happening out there. In order to lower the anxiety APNA needs to come directly to them and inform them of what happened and what is the current status of their pensions.
"While it’s all good to inform the politicians, the clients also need to be informed," Commissioner of Finance Roy Marlin told the Government Information Service (GIS).