Jamaica
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7,000 tourism workers contributing to pension scheme

By Halshane Burke 

Some 7,000 employees are now contributing to the tourism workers pension scheme.

The government launched the scheme in January 2020 to benefit hotel workers as well as people employed in related industries, such as craft vendors, tour operators, red cap porters, contract carriage operators and workers at attractions.

It provided $1 billion in seed funds so immediate benefits could accrue to qualified pensioners who have met the vested period of five years.

In an interview with Radio Jamaica News, Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett said the hope was to have 20,000 contributors before the end of the year.

With about 19,000 workers in the process of registering for the scheme, Mr. Bartlett expressed confidence that the target would be met. 

But he noted that even if the government does not reach that 20,000 target by the end of the year, the scheme would still exceed its revenue targets, considering it has already earned more than $300 million in funds from members. 

"That is on top of the $1 billion that the government provided to enable pensioners who are 59 years old now and only have five or six years to contribute. When they finish that, they’ll still be able to get a pension the same size as though they were contributing from they were 18 or 20," Mr. Bartlett explained.