Pensioners and the cost of living

Under the heading Cost-Of-Living Increase (December 28), Ninette Zammit has decided that we pensioners are not justified in claiming the full two-thirds cost-of-living increase awarded each year to the "workers". And the reasons? Just two. Because, she says, workers pay 10 per cent of their CofL increase to National Insurance; and because workers pay a large increase in their expense of travelling to work. Then, dear Ms Zammit (I wonder how old she is?) has the cheek to say: "All other expenses are approximately the same".

She seems to have left out of her calculations the annual increase in salary every "worker" gets and the many tax-free perks some employees receive over the years. Not so the pensioners, many of whom are on the minimum pension. Then again, many an octogenarian have been on the maximum of just over Lm4,000 a year for a long time, in my case for the last 14 years. And being a widower I still have to pay income tax from which no doubt Ms Zammit gets some benefit.

Not being an ex-Member of Parliament my only increase per annum is the famous two-thirds of the cost-of-living increase. Many of us surviving pensioners in deteriorating health still have to pay for medicines and for trips to the doctor or hospital. I just hope that when Ms Zammit retires the government's plans for a better pension than we have received will have come into effect. In the meantime we old, very old age pensioners will carry on stuck with the maximum pension plus two-thirds of cost of living. This after a working life contributing National Insurance for over 40 years.

I just hope that my next pension increase will not have to be addressed to Ground Floor, Villa Addolorata, Marsa!