Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Tourism Workers Pension Scheme, TWPS, Ryan Parkes, says despite the low take-up for the social security plan, over $70 million is currently being contributed to the scheme on a monthly basis.
The number of people directly employed in the tourism industry who are eligible to register for the scheme is 175,000. However, the current membership stands at 10,977.
Of the current membership, Parkes says 8,673 of them are active monthly contributors.
According to Parkes, Covid-19 and two hurricanes are factors that have contributed to the low take-up.
Parkes says the Board of Trustees intends to scale up registration over the next two years to bring the total number of members to at least 20,000.
Under the TWPS, for the first three years after the commencement date in 2020, both members and employers, where applicable, had to contribute three per cent of earnings monthly.
Thereafter, members are to contribute five per cent of earnings and employer matches with five per cent of the member’s earnings.
Meanwhile, Parkes says Jamaica’s TWPS model has drawn interest from the region.
Ryan Parkes, chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Tourism Workers Pension Scheme. He was speaking on Nationwide This Morning on Tuesday.
