Once again the Government has announced new schemes in order to continue addressing past injustice and thus another electoral promise is being fulfilled.
In a news conference, the Minister for Social Policy and Children’s Rights Michael Falzon spoke about how a new scheme will be opened for former employees of the Telemalta Corporation, for former workers of Malta Drydocks and of the Malta Shipbuilding.
In fact it was explained that last year the public sector scheme was extended to another category of workers who had joined the Telemalta Corporation between the first of January 1978 and the 15th of January -1979, and who had failed to qualify for a pension similar to that operated by the Government for employees in the public service.
Therefore, now, this will be in a separate scheme for it, and will be spread over a number of years. Around 250 people are expected to benefit from the scheme.
Another new scheme will be open to around 500 workers who in 2003 were transferred from Malta Drydocks and Malta Shipbuilding and assimilated with Industrial Projects and Services Ltd (IPSL), which is now known as Resource Support and Services Ltd ( RSSL).
Minister Michael Falzon also announced that the Government will be addressing a case of injustice that was carried out with the former workers of the Verdala hotel more than 40 years ago. Here too, the persons concerned will be contacted in the coming months and given information on how their injustice will be addressed.
“From 2017 until today, this Government has invested €85 million, with these not including these schemes announced today. This confirms the social spirit of this Government, which works hard to address any injustice”, stated Minister Michael Falzon.
The details and conditions regarding each scheme will be published in the Government Gazette. Applications for the schemes will be received until the end of July and payments due to eligible persons will be made in November.
With these schemes, other previous ones will be continued, for those people who started working in the public sector, these include employees in a corporation or public entity after having spent some time serving in one of the tax bodies established before 1979, employed with the Gas Board until it ended and then they were employed with the Enemalta Corporation and apprentices with the Malta Electricity Board.
