Many may remember the 2016 report of Paula Monroe-Ellis, the Auditor General, that uncovered how the Port Authority of Jamaica's board members authorized outrageous multi-million dollar "golden parachute" pension payments to three senior officers with one receiving over $146 million dollars in pensions and gratuity. These officers had initially been entitled to pricey pension packages when the board disregarded government guidelines and approved exorbitant multi-million dollar payouts to their colleagues. Furthermore, the auditor's report uncovered that this same board at the Port Authority of Jamaica under the leadership of Messrs. Hilton and Shirley authorized payments of over $15 million in gratuity to other senior officers. However, while the decision makers at Port Authority of Jamaica did not hesitate in authorizing multi-million dollar pension increases to their equals, pension increase requests of low income level retirees do not stand a chance of any consideration although these retirees can barely survive on the minimum pension payments as they struggle daily with the constant rising costs of living. Port Authority of Jamaica's CEO and also the vice president of Human Resources' reasoning for denial of pension increase in one particular case is that the employee signed a pension contract, so the retiree is bound by the signed document. Yet, this frivolous reasoning did not seem to apply to those senior officers who were given multi-million dollar increases although they too signed and were bound by an initial pension agreement. The curt, unsympathetic response from the Port Authority of Jamaica's executives to the retiree's pension increase request is an example that in Jamaica there still exists a blatant disregard for those with no influence while systematic class-based preferential treatment continues to be shelled out to the connected and affluent.
Senior Port Authority Officers Get Multimillion-Dollar Payments To Which They Are Not Entitled
