Opposition leader Roy McTaggart has asked the government to increase stipends for former seafarers and military veterans in its next budget.
In a public video message, McTaggart said the current $950 per month ex gratia payment is not enough, and should be increased to $1,500 as a priority.
This will help to support the most vulnerable and counter “skyrocketing inflation”, the Progressives leader said.
McTaggart said one of the hallmarks of a fair and inclusive society is how those in need are supported, and “the Cayman Islands’ people have a proud tradition of caring for each other”.
But sometimes the government needs to step in to help, he said.
“Particularly we have all acknowledged that there are some in our community to whom a particular debt is owed.
“That applies to the older seafarers who in so many ways are the bedrock of our nation and the foundation upon which or subsequent prosperity has been built.
“It also applies to our veterans, those who volunteer to defend the freedoms and liberties that we hold there.
“And it applies to the wives of our seafarers and veterans who played a valuable role on the home front in nation building.”
Seafarers and veterans have long been entitled to a stipend as an acknowledgement of their service and sacrifice and to boost small pension funds, McTaggart said.
However, this has been “eroded greatly” due to high levels of inflation as “prices spiral upward in grocery stores and gas pumps or household bills”.
“The actual value of the stipend paid to seafarers and veterans had been allowed to dwindle over the years and we set out to restore its value,” he said.
Certain civil service retirees would also benefit from a stipend boost as their pensions would be topped up to meet the new stipend value.
During 2022 and 2023, the government budgeted $11.1 million per year for seafarer and veteran stipends.
The stipend is available to Caymanian seafarers or the surviving spouses of seafarers who spent at least three consecutive years at sea prior to 1985.
They must have received a monthly income of less than $3,000 and have reached the age of 60.
Meanwhile, veterans must have served during World War I or World War II, or featured on a pre-existing list, according to a 1995 government memo.
Applications for stipends can be made on the Needs Assessment Unit website.
The Compass has reached out to the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development for a comment and is awaiting a response.
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