MARY'S FANCY--Windward Islands Chamber of Labour Unions (WICLU) First Vice President Claire Elshot is calling on General Pension Fund APS to divulge the purchase price of Mary's Fancy Estate.
Elshot told reporters at WICLU's bi-weekly press briefing on Thursday that APS should not be so secretive about the purchase price. Transparency is needed, she said.
APS recently reached an agreement with the owners to purchase the property, which includes the plantation house and surrounding land. This purchase came after many decades of interest in purchasing the property by numerous parties.
Elshot: "APS is an entity that has funds for teachers' retirement plans so they should be able to provide the price," Elshot said at the press conference shared with Workers Institute for Organised Labour (WIFOL) President Theophilus Thompson. "Pensioners and persons, who are part of the fund, have a right to know and I hope we would be able to get clarity on this," she said.
Elshot said the investment made by APS to purchase Mary's Fancy Estate was not an investment, but rather the acquiring of assets. She said it was necessary to clarify this as she had received calls from her members, who were concerned that APS had been investing their pension money despite calls she had made that it should not invest one dime of the pension fund without the proper procedures first being put in place. She said APS lending money is a different matter that can't be done without proper procedures first being put in place.
APS had indicated that it is committed to preserving the estate and maintaining its historical and ecological importance as its contribution to the country's heritage. The acquisition of the historical place is in keeping with the investment goals of APS, which are executed through an investment programme designed to safeguard pension capital and generate a minimum rate of return on the long term, in order to ensure that pension benefits can be paid to APS participants when the time arises, APS had said.
