Prime Minister Andrew Holness has said that urgency must be placed on settling the issue of public sector pension reform.

Acknowledging concerns expressed by trade unions relating to the five per cent increase in contributions by workers, Holness noted that failure to reform pensions will result in a “major crisis on our hands.

“I cannot overemphasise that point. In 1990 the pension bill of the Government was 0.4 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Today it has more than quadrupled. It is now two per cent of GDP,” he said.

The Prime Minister was addressing delegates in the public session of the Triennial General Assembly of the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union (BITU) at the Wolmer’s High School for Boys in Kingston on Saturday.

It was held under the theme, “New World of Work…New Type of Representation”.

Holness informed that the Government must find a costly $34.5 billion to meet pension expenses and reiterated the need to pass the Pensions (Public Service) Act of 2017 and the Constitution (Amendment) (Established Fund) (Payment of Pensions) Act 2017.

“The pension bill is growing…It is absolutely important that we get the Bills passed. The end result will be to the benefit of you the workers and the country,” he said.

The Bills, which have already been passed by the House of Representatives earlier in the year, are now before the Senate.

Read full news here: Jamaica Observer