Govt urged to improve outdated pension rates

SHAH ALAM - The government has been urged to improve the rate for disability pension (PHU) and constant-attendance (ELS) allowances that have been overlooked for 22 years.

Malaysian Armed Forces Veterans Association (PVATM) president Datuk Sharuddin Omar said the government was aware that the PHU and ELS for veterans injured while on duty still used the old rates and it must be reviewed since they were outdated.

“I understood at the time the number of PHU beneficiaries were not large, consisting of only 1,798 veterans injured on duty.

“A major portion of those injured on duty was involved in the operation against the Malaya Communist Party (PKM) in the Second Emergency era.

“They were veterans who were 21 to 100 per cent injured on duty. From the amount, 14 were PHU veterans who were eligible for ELS,” he told Sinar Harian.

He added that the research was done by the Armed Forces Veteran Affairs Department (JHEV) since last year hoping that the government will implement it soon.

Sharuddin said as an example, some veterans have suffered permanent injuries since 1976, but the government could only afford to pay RM114.24 each month.

“For example, a veteran from Kampung Kok Lanas, Ketereh, Kelantan had his leg blown off from a communist booby trap in Gubir, Sik, Kedah in 1976.

“The government paid RM114.24 per month for the permanent injury due to the enemies’ actions. Imagine an injury since 1976 (47 years ago), but the government is only paying that amount," he said.

On Wednesday, Deputy Defence Minister Adly Zahari was reported to have said that the government is reevaluating the pension schemes for former army personnel as a whole including the provision of disability pensions, welfare and health service management.

During the question and answer session in Dewan Rakyat, he said the study and revision will take into account various aspects including the salary scale, the disability and dependents.