Chief secretary hints of ‘good news’ for pensioners

 

The chief secretary, Shamsul Azri Abu Bakar (second left) after closing the annual meeting of Koperasi Profesional Putrajaya today. (Bernama pic)

PUTRAJAYA: 

The government is expected to finalise the pension rate of civil servants who opt for the new civil service remuneration scheme (SSPA) soon, according to the chief secretary to the government, Shamsul Azri Abu Bakar.

He said the matter is being fine-tuned and would be brought to the Cabinet meeting on Friday, adding that there could be some good news as well.

About 900,000 government pensioners are reported to be waiting for an official explanation on their pension rates and whether it will be adjusted according to the new salary scheme.

In October, the director-general of public services, Wan Ahmad Dahlan Abdul Aziz, said pensioners would benefit from adjustments that would raise the percentage of pension received.

Shamsul Azri said the government was focused on implementing the first phase of SSPA, when asked whether civil servants who did not take up the SSPA would be given a second chance to do so.

About 1,400 out of 1.4 million civil servants did not sign up for the SSPA when the deadline closed on Nov 30. - FMT