Govt assures retirees pension amount will not decrease, says Anwar

Anwar dijangka umum rombakan Kabinet. -Gambar Bernama

KUALA LUMPUR: The government has given an assurance that it will top up the pension amount for retired civil servants to ensure that it is not less than what is currently received, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (pic) said.

"Although there is a court decision, the government, specifically the Treasury, has decided to top up the amount considered insufficient so that it is not less than the (pension) salary that should be received,” he said.

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He said this at the Administrative and Diplomatic Officers Alumni (Alumni PTD) and Yayasan Alumni PTD dinner at the World Trade Centre here on Wednesday (Dec 13) night.

On June 27, the Federal Court affirmed the Court of Appeal’s decision to declare the Pensions Adjustment (Amendment) Act 2013 (Act A1447) as null and void, rendering the amendments no longer applicable to government retirees.

However, in July, the government decided that the July pension and derivative pension for civil servants who retired before and from 2013 be paid using the original pension amount.

This resulted in the pension payments for civil servants who retired before 2013 being restored to the December 2012 amount, while civil servants who retired from 2013 onwards had their pension payments restored to the original amount at the time of retirement.

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Anwar had said that the difference between the current pension amount and the original figure will continue to be paid in the form of a special aid known as Special Recognition for Retirees (PKKP) to enable the amount received by pensioners to be the same as the one received in June 2023.

Earlier, in his speech at the dinner, Alumni PTD president Tan Sri Abdul Halim Ali expressed concern that there would be a decrease in the pension amount next year following the Federal Court’s decision.

Meanwhile, touching on the study of the Public Service Remuneration System (SSPA), Anwar said the government is committed to thoroughly looking into the matter but added that this would require some time.

"On salary adjustments, the issue will certainly be looked into and studied, and I believe the SSPA has not been reviewed for 11 years. This is not about winning over the civil servants, but this is the reality.

"It should be reviewed every 10 years, but because there is non-stop politicking going on, there was no opportunity to think about civil servants' issues. But now, there is a committee to review the salary and allowance scheme for civil servants, Insya Allah, this will be resolved,” he said.

At the event, the Prime Minister also approved an allocation of RM500,000 to Alumni PTD to continue the association's activities in helping strengthen public administration and services. - Bernama