A smoke signaller says: “Prime Minister Henry Puna’s statement that people should ‘stay in the country and get a second job to make ends meet’ has been totally misunderstood by your readers. What he really referred to was the example of the many over-age public servants who collect two pay packets every week; the one from their job in the Agriculture, Power Supply or Island Administration, or wherever they might work as a public servant. Plus their Old Age Pension of a $100 per week. Makes you wonder whether these overage government workers pay tax on the old age pension? I thought there is a policy where it is compulsory for public servants to retire at 60 years of age. If that is the case then there must be two groups of public servants: those who get retired at 60 by the government, and the Cook Islands Party supporters who can carry on for as long as they manage to clock in every day. Surely this is grossly unfair to the non-CIP workers and especially to our Cook Islands youngsters who have to migrate overseas as they cannot find a job in the islands because those over-age workers. Can the Public Service Commissioner confirm that there are at least 11 overage Aitutaki government workers collecting their weekly/fortnightly pay as well as the Old Age Pension, despite the policies set in place by government?”
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