Dear Editor,

A well-known calypso refrain warns that if leadership is lacking at the top, the same will follow at the bottom. According to Antigua News Room, a public letter has raised pointed questions about whether the management team at the Antigua and Barbuda Social Security Board is bringing the organisation into disrepute.

The letter's author recalls a time when Social Security was held in high esteem — regarded as the hallmark of the island's statutory corporations. Today, the writer contends, that reputation has been severely diminished.

Adding weight to those concerns, the letter references a government minister who publicly stated on the airwaves that senior officials at Social Security are drawing large salaries without producing output that justifies their compensation. The writer questions whether the organisation has become, in effect, a cash cow, and suggests the consequences of mismanagement are now becoming impossible to ignore.

The letter identifies ten specific issues that have entered the public domain regarding Social Security's operations:

1. The payment of what are described as exorbitant monthly rents for prime locations to house day-to-day operations.

2. The abandonment of the organisation's own building, which was reportedly cleared out at significant cost and now stands as an eyesore in St. John's.

3. A lack of transparency surrounding Social Security's investment in the Jolly Beach Hotel.

4. Pensioners who applied for their pensions after their 65th birthday have been waiting over a year to receive their entitlements.

5. Maternity and sickness claims are also subject to lengthy delays before beneficiaries receive their cash payments.

6. Staff members recently went on strike citing poor working environment conditions.

7. Workers also took industrial action because employee appraisals have not been completed, depriving staff of monetary benefits.

8. Members of the management team have been accused of harassing female staff.

9. Land sold at Paynters cannot be utilised by clients due to the absence of proper infrastructure.

10. The organisation was sued and reportedly required to pay a staff member $50,000 or more in damages.

Additional concerns raised include outdated sections of the Social Security website and the deteriorating condition of a photo advertisement on the Registration building.

The letter closes with a direct challenge to those in authority, asking whether there is a mismatch of talent and role within the organisation, or simply a lack of accountability at the management level. The writer argues that an institution more than 50 years old should not be facing such embarrassing irregularities in 2026.