Retired TTDF personnel have to wait months, some have waited over a year to get their pensions and gratuity payments.
The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) instructed that TTDF personnel should ensure that their documents be submitted fifteen (15) months before their retirement date, to ensure a smooth transition.
That time frame seems not to be working, as TTDF retirees are constantly being left penniless after retirement.
This is because of a non-functional pensions department.
The Staff Sergeant who is heading the department is running errands for the Finance officer and is never at work.
Since when does the head of the Pensions Department go about signing for and collecting building materials from hardware stores? There are other departments for that.
There are some hard-working staff in the pensions department, however, there are others who need to be transferred. Retirees' files are being misplaced frequently, and when retirees ask for feedback on the status of their pensions, they are being lied to, and it’s always “the file is in the Ministry”.
Retirees have found themselves having to borrow money to pay mortgages and to survive, while they await their pension. It is quite unfair after working for so long and contributing towards their gratuity, that at the end of their careers, they are left penniless for months.
Somehow the Commissioned officers don’t go through this, because they get their gratuities weeks before they retire and their pension payments start on time the following month.
It’s always the enlisted men and women that suffer, either from promotion issues, victimization by senior officers, and now no pension or gratuity on time when retirement comes around.
The TTDF is currently plagued with lawsuits and the judgments are always against the TTDF.
The CDS needs to look into this situation that retirees are currently facing, or more lawsuits may come his way.
However, he said in the past “Let them go to Court” but when the lawsuits come he gets quite upset.
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