I refer to your article in The Gleaner of Thursday, January 12, captioned 'GCT targeted' in which you report the Government's consideration of an increase in general consumption tax.

I hope that in its wisdom the Government realises that it will be getting in one hand, only to give back with the other. The giving back part is the number of poor-houses they will have to build and staff. These will be for pensioners like us who will have no alternative but to finally throw in the towel, because of the further erosion of the fixed pensions we have had to be existing on for years.

Pensioners suffer

I hope the prime minister is aware that there are many of us who earn less than $1,000 in pension (the Government pension excluded) after working for more than 40 years in private industry. We are hurting, not because of any profligacy in the past, but because the investment decisions we made then have been decimated because of the erosion of the dollar over time.

The Government will also take into consideration that a decision to decrease income tax will not help, since many, many of us are not even earning enough to pay income tax in the first place.

I am, etc.,

LLOYD RUSSELL

lloyd.rssll@gmail.com

Discovery Bay

St Ann