KINGSTON, Feb. 2 (JIS):

            The Accountant General’s Department (AGD) is urging civil servants close to the age of retirement to ensure that all their documents are updated to minimise delays in receiving their pension.

             Client Services Manager at the AGD, Tanisha Weir Grant, told JIS News that Ministries, Departments and Agencies are being strongly encouraged to invite the AGD to speak with this group of persons to ensure that they have the necessary information to begin the process.

            “Two years prior to going on retirement, we tell them to check their service records to ensure that they are up to date, because we do not want that gap to happen when they are ready to go off [on retirement]. If all the documents are up to date, then there will be a smooth transition,’ she said.  

            Mrs. Weir Grant explained that the pension process is threefold and does not begin with the AGD, but rather with the employee’s human resource department that submits the required documents to the Ministry of Finance and Public Service’s Pension Branch. Once approved, those documents are then turned over to the AGD for the payment process.

            “After banking details have been verified and the checking process completed by [our] Loans Management Unit, within four weeks pensioners can expect payment,” she informed.

            In Jamaica, the age of retirement for men is 65 years and 60 years for women.

The AGD is an operational department within the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service and is charged with facilitating and reporting of the flow of funds within the public sector.

CONTACT: SHARI-ANN PALMER