THE TRUSTEES of the Air Jamaica pension fund have written to Dr. Omar Davies, Minster of Finance and Planning, seeking "an early meeting" to discuss government's offer of $927 million as an interim payment.
The former Air Jamaica workers, who are the beneficiaries of the pension fund, are contending that with interest they are entitled to $1.1 billion.
A meeting was held on Friday between the Minister of Finance and trustees but the Minister restated the offer he made in a letter of April 11 that the $927 million was the full and final settlement of the claim.
Attorney, Patrick Foster, who represents the former Air Jamaica employees yesterday referred to media reports that $927 million was being offered as an interim payment. He said subject to the working out of details, he would recommend that the sum be accepted without prejudice to the rights of the trustees to claim the full amount to which they are entitled under the judgment.
The Gleaner was informed yesterday that the trustees, CIBC Trust and Merchant Bank, Joy Charlton and Ian Blair, former Air Jamaica employees, have written to the government expressing disappointment that Dr. Davies merely restated the proposal that he had set out in a letter of April 11.
The trustees also stated in the letter that if the media reports were correct then they were instructed to advise that they would meet with the Minister at his earliest convenience to discuss the interim payment with a view to accepting the $927 million.
Mr. Foster explained that it was likely that the matter could end up in court to work out interest rate payments and the $22 million monies owed by Air Jamaica to the pension fund. He said government had wrongly treated the $22 million contribution as being paid into the pension fund but it was never paid. "The effect of government's approach is to shift the employees' share of the surplus and this is a major error in the government's calculation," he said.
The $22 million if treated as not being paid would put the employees share of the surplus at over $1.1 billion, Mr. Foster said.
The former employees had taken the government to court contending that they were entitled to the surplus in the Air Jamaica pension fund. The Supreme Court ruled against them but the Court of Appeal ruled in their favour. Air Jamaica and the government took the issue to the United Kingdom Privy Council which ruled that Air Jamaica and its former employees were entitled to the surplus in the pension fund.
