WILLEMSTAD - After a year of waiting, the proposed legislation for a basic general pension is finally on the agenda for public debate in the Curaçao parliament.
The Central Committee completed the bill over a year ago, but its discussion was delayed when the parliament's speaker did not prioritize the proposal for placement on the agenda.
The bill, initiated by the MAN party, aims to provide pension security for 40,000 workers who currently lack retirement benefits, allowing them to accumulate additional pensions through recognized insurers. However, according to the party, the progress of the proposal has been repeatedly delayed due to priority issues within both parliament and the Pisas II cabinet.
MAN parliamentarians Steven Martina and Giselle Mc William criticized the parliament speaker and the cabinet for focusing on other legislative matters, such as the LOK law for online gaming, instead of prioritizing social welfare issues. They emphasized that social welfare should take precedence.
The pension proposal, which has been on the table since 2016, has now completed all necessary preparatory stages and is awaiting a final decision. In addition to this pension proposal, MAN is also pushing for the swift processing of a bill for a minimum youth wage, which has similarly been stalled in the parliamentary agenda.