economy and even democracy itself, Bermuda statesman Sir John Plowman has warned.

Speaking to Hamilton Rotary Club at their weekly luncheon yesterday, Sir John stressed the problem of an aging population on a global scale and the many problems which Bermuda will face concerning this matter.

"The costs of global aging will be far beyond the means of even the world's wealthiest nations, unless benefit systems are radically reformed,'' he said.

And he presented statistics to Hamilton Rotarians to prove this point. He revealed that in 30 years time, one in every four people would be over the age of 65 and the ratio of working taxpayers to non-working pensioners in developed countries would fall to 1.5 to one.

At the other end of the spectrum the birth rate is decreasing which, if this continues at its present rate, will result in the total population of Western Europe and Japan shrinking to approximately half its present size.

Sir John went on to explain how this trend would affect Bermuda on a local scale.

He quoted projected figures supplied to him by the Government Statistical Office which estimated 10.2 percent of the local population would be 65 or over by the end of this year.

In just over ten years, according to the projected figures, under half of the local population will be in the workforce posing a huge political and economical challenge to the local society.

Sir John put forward ideas which he believed should be considered when deciding on which policies should be adopted to overcome the challenges.

These included an extension of the normal working life beyond the age of 65, a greater investment in the education of future workers, and requiring workers to save for their own retirements as is already being done locally with the introduction of compulsory pension plans.

Sir John outlined some of the plans a newly formed committee, appointed by the Government to organise appropriate events for this "Year of the Older Person'', is working on.

The committee has planned several talks and forums dealing with various aspects of aging including health issues and the need for legislation.

And Sir John referred to the theme for this year's Heritage Parade in May which will be "Bermuda over the last 100 years''.

SENIOR SR