National Council of Older Persons (NCOP) member Mohammed Hassan Khan says Fiji\u2019s senior citizens are facing growing hardship and urgently need stronger social and economic protection.<\/p>\n
Khan said pensions are a vital safety net and must be increased to match the rising cost of living.<\/p>\n
He said older citizens living on modest pensions, family assistance allowances or depleted savings are struggling as prices continue to rise.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is evident that the older citizens of Fiji are finding it difficult to cope with the increasing costs of living,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor many with no fixed income, hardships have increased.\u201d<\/p>\n
He pointed to fuel price hikes, rising food and transport costs, the lingering impacts of the global financial crisis and the devaluation of the Fiji dollar as factors worsening the situation.<\/p>\n
According to Khan, inflation has eroded purchasing power to the point where \u201ca 20 per cent increase in pensions and allowances would be needed for even the smallest impact.\u201d<\/p>\n
Khan also criticised the 2012 reduction in FNPF pensions, saying pensioners had already contributed for decades and deserved security in retirement.<\/p>\n
\u201cFNPF members on pensions have rightfully earned what they are getting,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cTheir funds were used for investments and loans\u2014what did the members get in return?\u201d<\/p>\n
He said pensions offer dignity, independence and stability, and reduce poverty and dependence within families. \u201cPensions have enabled older people to live independently and with dignity\u2026 They are a powerful tool in poverty reduction,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Khan called for several measures, including free medical services, tax concessions for families caring for elderly relatives, a minimum $200 monthly allowance for those with no income, subsidised transport and the removal of taxes on retirement savings.<\/p>\n
He said Fiji must act now.<\/p>\n
\u201cPensions must be regarded as a right,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a firm case for an increase to ensure income security and uphold the dignity of our older persons.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"National Council of Older Persons (NCOP) member Mohammed Hassan Khan says Fiji\u2019s senior citizens are facing growing hardship…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":323909,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[45,49,48,133,131,132],"class_list":{"0":"post-323908","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-finance","12":"tag-personal-finance","13":"tag-personalfinance"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323908","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=323908"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323908\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/323909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=323908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=323908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=323908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}