PUTRAJAYA, Dec 14 — The government is expected to finalise the pension rate under the Civil Service Remuneration Scheme (SSPA) soon, Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Shamsul Azri Abu Bakar.
He added that the matter was being fine-tuned from various aspects and it will be brought to the Cabinet during its meeting this Friday, adding that there was the possibility of some good news as well.
“We are refining it, next week we’ll take it to the Cabinet and we will decide,” he told reporters after officiating the 9th Koperasi Profesional Putrajaya Bhd annual general meeting here today.
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.
Public Services Department director-general Tan Sri Wan Ahmad Dahlan Abdul Aziz had been reported to have said on October 31 that pensioners would benefit from the SSPA following adjustments that would raise the percentage of pension received.
Shamsul Azri also said the government is focused on implementing SSPA Phase 1, when asked whether civil servants who did not take up the SSPA would be given a chance to do so.
“Right now, we are focused on those who signed, and we will look into whatever possible outcome, we will look later. We will solve the implementation of the first phase first,” he said.
Only 0.13 per cent, or 1,400 out of 1.4 million civil servants, did not sign up for the SSPA when the deadline closed on November 30.
In other developments, he expressed satisfaction with civil servants mobilised to flood affected areas under the Ihsan Madani squad, pointing out that over 1,000 civil servants from various ministries were carrying out post-flood recovery work in affected states.
“(The civil servants’ cooperation is)….very positive. We have done a lot of charity work like cleaning mosques, schools and clinics. We also have an engineering team from the Public Works Department specially to check wiring and all technical issues in government buildings,” he said when asked about the developments of the Ihsan Madani squad.
The squad was mooted by Shamsul Azri to allow civil servants to be mobilised to assist flood victims.
— Bernama
