Cuepacs prefers pension scheme to EPF

SIBU: The Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and Civil Service (Cuepacs) Sarawak fully supports the call for the government to maintain the Public Service Pension Scheme for civil servants.

State Cuepacs ( CNS) president Ahmad Malie said they are in sync with central Cuepacs as the pension scheme is more beneficial compared to the Employees Provident Fund ( KWSP).

Many civil servants who had opted for EPF previously had reverted to pension scheme, he noted.

“In this regard, CNS is of the view that the pension scheme is more beneficial than KWSP.

“If the pension scheme is not beneficial, it is not possible that many of the public servants who had opted for KWSP ( previously) had reverted to the pension scheme,” he said yesterday.

Central Cuepacs president Datuk Azih Muda recently urged the government to maintain the Public Service Pension Scheme for all civil servants.

He said among the main reasons why the pension scheme was still relevant was the fact that salaries of civil servants were relatively low compared to workers in the private sector and this had made it difficult for civil servants to have enough savings when they retire.

On this, Ahmad added: “Because of the low salary rate, KWSP scheme is not really relevant to be implemented (for civil servants), since it may create problems for civil servants in future.

“Therefore, in order to safeguard the welfare of civil servants, CNS strongly urges that this pension scheme be maintained,” he said.