AN outspoken MP yesterday revealed that thousands will retire in the coming two years in both the public and private sectors while a key vote on a retirement law proposed by the government is set for Parliament.
Zainab Abdulameer said that 5,738 citizens will retire this year from the public sector while 14,847 will retire from the private sector this year.
She added that next year 6,597 public sector employees will retire and 18,687 in the private sector.
“There were many figures that were released to us as a committee that weren’t released to the public as part of the parliamentary probe into the Social Insurance Organisation (SIO),” she said.
Ms Abdulameer was speaking at the “Social Dialogue Under Crisis” conference which concluded at the Gulf Hotel Convention and Spa yesterday.
The two-day forum was held under the patronage of Labour and Social Development Minister Jameel Humaidan, in collaboration with the General Federation of Bahrain Trade Unions, the International Labour Organisation and the Bahrain Chamber.
“The annual cost of the pensions of former MPs, members of Shura Council and municipal councillors is BD3,226,289 while the annual pensions of former ministers is BD2,934,488.
“The SIO has also given pensions to 41 deceased individuals at a total of BD676,167.
“These are all massive amounts that the pension fund can’t handle.”
She also highlighted that the actuarial cost for the memberships of the legislative authority hasn’t been paid yet and it stands at BD135,000,000.
According to Ms Abdulameer, there are 820 individuals in 2020 who receive more than one pension while 1,671 people in Bahrain receive pensions while still receiving a regular salary as they work.
She also claimed that the SIO was deliberately misleading the committee by providing incorrect information and figures and called for more co-operation, transparency and accountability.
© Copyright 2020 www.gdnonline.com
Copyright 2021 Al Hilal Publishing and Marketing Group Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info).
