Retirees should be paid pensions on time

Member of the Public Administration and Appropriation Committee Wade Mark says it is a retiree's right to prompt payment of their pension when they retired from their job.

During a committee meeting on processing of pension and gratuity payments for public officers on Wednesday at the J Hamilton Maurice Room at the Parliament, Mark questioned comptroller of accounts Catherine Laban on how retirees were processed to receive their pensions.

Laban said a spreadsheet with a list of information was sent to the Auditor General instead of the scores of files they would normally send for them to note. She said this would help to reduce the time of payment of the cheques.

Committee member Wade Mark questioned the new processes Laban said would be implemented to ensure that retirees were paid on time.

"If on an average it took one year for a retiree to secure his pension, would your new system and processes...what would be the new period, given the new systems that you are seeking to establish and employ, for that individual to receive his cheque," Mark asked.

Laban said if all the documents were submitted and were accurate with all the relevant information, it will take a few months to calculate the pension and payment.

"You mean with all systems on go, meaning that all the papers and all the files are in order, it will still take between six months and a year?" Mark inquired.

Laban responded: "I didn't say six months to a year, I said maybe up to two or three months because it has to go through all the processes, from approvals, to accounts, to Auditor General."