Gov’t aims to cut wait for pension payment

The government is now aiming to start disbursing pension payments to retirees within a month after they stop working in the public service.

But Finance and Public Service Minister Dr Nigel Clarke has not said when this will begin.

“It will take some time to get there but that is our goal,” Clarke said this morning at a Victoria Mutual Pensions Management Retirement Seminar in Spanish Court Hotel in New Kingston.

At present, retirees sometimes wait more than a year to start receiving their monthly pension and Clarke said that should not be the case.

“When you retire from Government Service your last pay cheque must be followed by your first pension cheque the very next month,” he said.

According to Clarke, the reduced wait for pension payment will be made possible through the implementation of the Pensions (Public Service) Act governing public sector pensions.

He has also cited the new Public Employees Pension Administration System which will be introduced in the next financial year. 

The previous public pension system required administrators to navigate more than 30 separate pieces of legislation, which resulted in significant delays in processing the payments, Clarke said.

Additionally, he said, there is no appropriate software and systems to verify retirees’ years’ of service so it had to be done manually.

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