A total of 548 retired Public Servants will be paid out this week their retirement benefits as the second batch of retirees under the Public Service Retirement Exercise for 2022. The 548 officers are from 18 government agencies. The retired public servants will be paid out at a total cost of K50.78 Million on Pay 14 this week. Majority of the retirees are from the Police Department with 329 retired police personnel and public servants. The total cost is the combination of Gross payments and Personal Emolument (PE) Liabilities, excluding their Nambawan Super retirement funds. The retirees are from the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary (329), Correction Service Institute (63), PNG Defence Force (29), Department of Works & Implementation (79), Department of Personnel Management (1), Treasury Department (1), Education Department (3), Department of Agriculture & Livestock (1), National Statistic Office (1), Pom General Hospital (4), Laloki Hospital (4), West New Britain PHA (2), Enga PHA (6), Southern Highlands PHA (1), Enga Provincial Administration (17), Hela Provincial Administration (1), Southern Highlands Provincial Administration (4) and Manus Provincial Administration (1). Department of Personnel Management Secretary Ms Taies Sansan said, the officers were identified by their respective agencies and their names submitted to DPM for validation and verification to be paid out. Secretary Ms. Sansan said, the retirement exercise has been on going since 2019 of which over 2, 600 public servants have so far been paid out at a cost of K119.7 million. “We are continuing the retirement exercise this year. The government had allocated K200 million in the 2022 annual budget to retire aging public servants and my department will continue to coordinate with all line agencies to ensure this process is executed well this year”. DPM has coordinated the public sector retirement program following an NEC decision in 2017, which has seen the development of a ‘Whole of Government approach undertaken to ensure all public servants who have reached the compulsory retirement age of 65 or those that are required to retire on medical grounds are paid out and put off the pay roll. “The vacancies created will also mean the workforce is better positioned to implement reforms, including the engagement of a new breed of Papua New Guinean public servants out of universities and colleges”. Secretary Ms. Sansan has thanked the government for the continued support to ensure that public servants who have reached compulsory retirement age are paid out.