By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, March 14: The financial burden on the government can be reduced if politicians serving as representatives of the people and cabinet members receive a single pension for all positions held during their tenure, according to Datuk Dr Adnan Mat.
A news report published in the New Straits Times stated that Adnan, the president of the Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and Civil Services (Cuepacs), highlighted that certain former ministers who are also Members of Parliament and state assemblymen are currently receiving pensions for each of their positions.
Thus, in order to reduce the government’s financial burden in paying pensions, they should only receive one pension, he said.
“They should only receive one pension, which is the highest rate among all the pensions they receive, for example, as a minister, deputy minister, or state executive councillor; there is no need to receive pensions as Members of Parliament or assemblymen anymore.
“This is because some of them serve (as representatives of the people) for a short period of only five years, but receive a certain amount of pension for all the positions they hold, so to ensure something better or more reasonable, a new scheme should be created, which is to provide only one pension,” he was quoted as saying in the news report.
Adnan made the remarks at a press conference following a meeting between Cuepacs and Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) staff at Arena Gemilang, DeTAR Putra, Unimas in Kota Samarahan yesterday (March 13).
He asserted that once the single pension scheme is implemented, the issue will be resolved, and Cuepacs will now focus on developing a better pension scheme for public service members in the future.
“Currently, there is much talk about the abolition of public service pensions but for Cuepacs, the right word is improving pension schemes that are suitable for the needs of future generations of public service members.
“For our generation, when we enter public service, our positions are permanent and pensionable, meaning from the first day, we are already enrolled in the government’s pension fund in the Retirement Fund (Incorporated) (KWAP) until we end our service.
“When improvements are made, ensure that future public service members receive a better scheme than the current permanent and pensionable scheme,” he remarked.
Furthermore, Adnan noted that in order to improve the pension scheme, three agencies in charge of employee welfare, namely KWAP, Employees Provident Fund (EPF), and Social Security Organisation (Perkeso), will present proposals to replace the existing scheme.
“The Public Service Department has informed that two proposals will be presented on March 18 by KWAP and EPF to the government, while on March 22, Perkeso will present theirs.
“Cuepacs will also assess whether their proposals are better than the existing scheme today,” he added.
Also present was Unimas Vice-Chancellor, Professor Dr Ahmad Hata Rasit. — DayakDaily
