Retired cop’s bills pile up as pension suspended
Published:Wednesday | February 10, 2021 | 3:14 AMCecelia Campbell-Livingston/Gleaner Writer
Retired police Illon Dawkins of Simon, in Rock River, has seen his bills piling up and interest being accrued as a result of his public service pension being discontinued.
Dawkins told The Gleaner that the last payment he received was November 2020.
When he did not receive his December payment, he was told by the Accountant General’s Department (AGD) that he had not submitted his life certificate since July last year.
“They normally send me the certificate to fill in and submit every quarter, I did not receive any,” he said, pointing out that he never missed a payment until December and yet no one contacted him about the certificate.
“It seems to me that there is a problem with the postal services. I made a request by phone to the postmaster general to track my letters. With the disposition of my original receipts, I requested copies but without success,” he shared.
Dawkins said he is now in a very stressful situation and needs his pay to cover his bills with the different agencies.
“Courts has decided to recover properties that are in arrears, my mortgage is also in arrears, leaving my credit ratings in a very bad state as a pensioner. I would like to know why I cannot be paid, if the supervisor has autonomy to verify that I am alive by requesting my valid driver’s licence on their WhatsApp platform along with my reference number,” he said.
Dawkins, who is also the group leader for his Community Development Committee, said his voluntary activities see him having to use his own resources, and even those activities have to be curtailed.
He said he reached out to the Office of the Prime Minister with no response.
Dawkins, who retired in 2012, is decrying the system where his payment gets frozen if the certificate is delayed.
“We should not be punished for these inefficiencies. There are no strategies by the AGD to deliver immediate payment where a delayed delivery of mails has occurred. This is not the first time this has happened. Where certificate has delayed beyond a certain date, you will have to wait for the next month to be paid,” he argues.
The Gleaner contacted the customer service department of the AGD and was told Dawkins was on the system for a February 25 payment. We were also informed that his arrears will also be credited to his account.