By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Chief Reporter

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

FRUSTRATED World War II veterans yesterday threatened to boycott the government's Remembrance Day ceremony in protest of its failure to increase war pensions for more than half a century.

War pensions received by veterans of the British Legion in the Bahamas have remained unchanged since 1945 despite commitments from various parliamentarians over the years, according to a Bahamas Branch representative, who spoke to the Tribune on the condition of anonymity.

"We have been lobbying for years," the representative said, "for more than five years. The veterans are boycotting, they will not be at this service. They are taking a stand. It is disgraceful for them to be treated like this."

These veterans receive around $11 per month from the government, as well as a small pension from the Canadian government, and their widows collect an average $4.50 per month.

The matter was last brought to the fore in May last year, when the State Finance Minister Michael Halkitis met with Comrade Cephas Ferguson, Chairman and Treasurer of the Bahamas Branch at the Ministry of Finance.

At the time, Mr Ferguson outlined urgent fiscal needs to ensure the organisation remained operable for the remainder of the year.

“We are in urgent need of reimbursement of $7,886.37 in poppy funds that were invested in the purchase of building material to restore the government-owned building the veterans have now occupied since 1945, located on Baillou Hill Road,” Mr Ferguson said in May 2014.

“We are also requesting an increase of the monthly war pension of $11 that we are currently receiving from the government of the Bahamas and have been receiving since 1945. To date we have only received $7,285 from the government during the month of January, an amount which has to be divided among our current membership of 54 elderly veterans and a widow, thus equating to $11.24 cents per member.”

He continued: “I trust that something can be done urgently for us as we are few in number and our bills are still many and we are losing our comrades very quickly. Our monthly disbursement of war pensions per month is $6,000 and we are in urgent need of $50,000 to take our organisation comfortably to December. Poppy sales are down due to hard economic times and this is usually our source of income to keep our organisation operational."

The Bahamas Branch's current membership includes 20 registered veterans aged 87 to 95 years old, and 29 widows aged 79 to 100 years old.

The government's Remembrance Day church service will be held at 11am at Christ Cathedral Church on Sunday. Veterans have organised another service at Bethel Baptist Church at 11am on November 11, the official memorial day.