The Malaysian Government Pensioners’ Association (Magpa) has denied the claim by Umno’s pensioners club (implementing group) club that there was no specific body to champion for pensioners in the country.

Magpa president Wan Mahmood Pawan Teh said since the establishment of the association in 1972, Magpa had catered to the wellbeing of more than 500,000 government pensioners.

“Magpa has good rapport with the pension division of the Public Services Department and other ministries. It has secured many benefits for the pensioners,” he said in a statement in Kuala Lumpur.

He was responding to a press report in which the club’s honorary-secretary Abdul Rahman Manan claimed there were now more than 500,000 government pensioners but that there was no specific body to look after their welfare.

Wan Mahmood maintained the government recognised Magpa’s role as a platform representing pensioners, hence that was why it referred pension-related matters to the association before they were submitted to the Public Services Department’s post-service division.      

He said among the benefits that the association had effected were the 100 percent derivative pension to a deceased government pensioner’s family which was enforced on Jan 1, 2009, and two compassionate contributions of RM500 each in 2011.

The latest, according to him, was the pension revision of between seven and 13 percent in conjunction with the civil service remuneration scheme (SBPA) and the increase in pension at two percent per year beginning 2013.  

- Bernama