Dionne Rose, Staff Reporter
THE GOVERNMENT will soon be establishing a formal pension fund for all new entrants to the civil service.
The disclosure was made yesterday by Finance and Planning Minister, Dr. Omar Davies, during the final sitting of the House of Representatives for the legislative year.
He made the announcement during the debate to amend the Pensions Act and Regulations which were later passed by the House.
The Finance Minister was responding to concerns raised by Opposition Leader Bruce Golding who called for a pension scheme to be put in place for public sector workers, as well as for stricter monitoring of the National Insurance Scheme (NIS).
Mr. Golding said the law protects persons who are paid a pension from the Consolidated Fund.
SUPPLEMENTAL INCREASE
He, however, noted that the Government only granted increases to these pensioners through a supplemental increase, which he said they are not entitled to by law.
Responding, Dr. Davies said: "Work is far advanced in that regard (formal pension fund for public sector workers), we have thought through
the technical issues as well as the presentation issues."
He said that, because the pensions received by Government workers were non-contributory, it has now become a "significant drain" on the expenditure budget.
"So it is now a large ministry, it is nearly $7 billion expenditure, which is coming straight from the Consolidated Fund, it is essentially now a large ministry," the minister stressed.
Dr. Davies said the establishment of a formal pension fund would be beneficial to the Government.
To prevent problems, only new entrants to the public sector would be a part of this new fund.
