Deputy Permanent Secretary (Policy and Administration) of Finance delivering his presentation

Bandar Seri Begawan - Ministry of Finance began conducting its first research on the newly announced 'Supplemental Contributory Pension' in 2005 and also received consultations from two international institutions namely the World Bank and AIG.

This was highlighted by Awang Hj Mohd Roselan bin Hj Mohd Daud, Deputy Permanent Secretary (Policy and Administration) of Finance, in his presentation of the Supplemental Contributory Pension scheme to the staff of the Ministry of Health during an SCP roadshow yesterday morning at the Health Promotion Centre.

"Two working papers have been prepared by both the international institutions while two sessions of roundtables were also organised by the Ministry of Finance and the Centre for Strategic and Policy Studies to receive feedback from private and public sectors stakeholders.

"Based on the findings and feedbacks, a taskforce was formed by the Ministry of Finance to further re-examine the scheme. The completed proposal was presented to His Majesty this year.

"It was a very long process, however, in the end we came up with a complete scheme that covers not only government staff but also workers in the private and informal sectors.

"The new Supplemental Contributory Pension is realised based on four main principles namely sustainability, security, accessibility and affordability," he explained.

He said that the SCP is a pension scheme that is an addition to the Employees Trust Fund (TAP). Like the TAP scheme, it is mandatory for all citizens and permanent residents in the sultanate working for either the public or private and informal sectors to join the SCP scheme.

He said, "The SCP scheme's primary objective is to ensure that those who fulfill the set conditions will receive a monthly minimum income payment (annuity) of $150 when they reach the mandatory retirement age of 60 years.

"With the SCP scheme, retirees at the age of 60 years old are guaranteed to receive annuity, which is a minimum of $150 on top of the Old Age Pension (OAP) payment of $250 allocated by the Government of His Majesty. At the end of the day, retirees will receive a minimum monthly income of as much as $400," he said

Awang Haji Roselan also gave details of Survivorship and Catch Up in the SCP Scheme.

The Supplemental Contributory Pension Scheme road show for the Ministry of Health, organised by the Ministry of Finance, was part of an ongoing effort to inform the public about the new Supplemental Contributory Pension. Some 100 personnel from the Ministry of Health attended the roadshow.

The introduction of the SCP scheme was announced in a titan by His Majesty on July 14 in conjunction with His Majesty's 63rd birthday. The scheme will take effect on January 1, 2010.

The Ministry of Finance will continue to conduct SCP road shows from time to time in order to provide the public with a better understanding on the scheme.

Also in attendance at the briefing was the Deputy Permanent Secretary (Performance and Compliance) at the Ministry of Finance, Awang Haji Hisham bin Haji Mohd Hanifah. -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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