Opposition Leader Wayne Furbert yesterday called for pensions to be increased above the inflation rate. Some pensioners were being forced to decide between prescription drugs and food, he claimed.

His comments came at the start of Senior Citizens? Week ? which carries the theme ?Seniors First and Foremost?.

Premier Alex Scott ? who is also a senior citizen ? read a proclamation to officially start the week.

?Many of our seniors have unselfishly sacrificed their time, their talents and their financial resources to make better lives not only for their immediate children and families but for many individuals in the wider Bermuda community,? Mr. Scott said. ?We thank and acknowledge our seniors for their contributions over the years that have allowed this Island to prosper into one of the wealthiest countries in the world, and for our citizens to reap the excellent benefits that living in Bermuda offers.?

Mr. Furbert told a full, 378-seat City Hall Auditorium that pensioners were concerned about health bills.

?Twenty eight percent of younger seniors and 39 percent of our older seniors think health insurance is not adequate for doctors? visits,? Mr. Furbert said. ?Sixty-nine percent of younger seniors and 66 percent of our older seniors are worried about their ability to manage their health properly. Ladies and gentlemen we must fix this to ensure that our seniors become first and foremost.?

However, at the mention of party politics ? when Mr. Furbert said the United Bermuda Party (UBP) would fix these problems ? the audience started to murmur.

?It?s important that children work with the Government to fix some of these problems. It is important that we, as children of seniors, play our part,? Mr. Furbert said. ?In other words take care of your mother and father and by doing that you are promised long life.?

But when he said, ?instead of taking five trips a year, make sure that your mother and your father have bread on the table? murmurs yet again resonated around the auditorium.

?They brought you up and built the foundations of Bermuda and now it?s your turn,? he said. ?With all these programmes running together, I believe that we will truly have seniors first and foremost in our minds. ?If we take care of our seniors today, someone will take care of us tomorrow.?

Senior Citizens? Week started on May 28 ? with a Premier?s tea party at the Botanical Gardens ? and will run until June 4.

Health and Family Services Minister, Patrice Minors, said every single senior in Bermuda was appreciated and loved.

Minister of Community Affairs and Sport, Dale Butler said our society was enriched by seniors, in a foreword contained in a Department of Community and Cultural Affairs booklet entitled, ?Senior Citizens? Biographies?.

?Seniors? Week is the one moment during our national calendar when we pause to salute and honour our elders,? he said. ?This is also a time when we highlight and pay special tribute to several for the contributions they made.?

Thirty-three elders were honoured for their service to others, he said, including four women who are in their hundredth year alive.

?Such service emanates from a selfless desire to help others, and at the heart of this is the desire to be kind to others. The examples they have set through their lives and the values that they have imparted have helped strengthen our Island home,? he said.

Seniors who were awarded yesterday included ? Olive Correia, Alison Lesley Elliott, Dorothy Evelyn Evans, Muriel Eleanore Eve, Olive May (Pat) Minetta Foley, Joy Barbara Genevive Fubler, Arthur Uneal Rose Francis, William Adolphus Francis, Francis Ailene Goodchild, Louis Madge Johnson, Joyce Olivia Jones, Wilhelmena Violet Liburd, Hyacinth Clarise Lightbourne, Jeanne Harnett Masters, Gloria Enid Outerbridge, Ramona Elizabeth Ramsay, Gilda Beatrice Morland Richards, Ruth Riley, Carolyn Audrey Saltus, Phyllis Amelia Samuels, Norma Matlida E. Showers, Phyllis Sydonia Simmons, Sheila Victoria Smith, Elaine Florence Swain, Laurret Ione Trott, Veta Vanecia Tucker, Blanche V. Waddell and Alice Emmeline Woolridge.

Centenarians included Esmee Lorraine Burrows, Nellie Venelia Joell, Writa V. Johnson and Evelyn Isabel Smith.