KUALA LUMPUR, April 13 — The Ministry of Defence (Mindef) has accomplished more than half of the ministry’s missions for 2022 in the first quarter of this year.
Senior Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said among the accomplishments were the construction of 305 units of ‘Rumah Keluarga Malaysia’ for Armed Forces personnel at Segamat Camp, 204 units at Pakit Camp and 20 units at Oran Camp which have been fully completed.
He said apart from that, his ministry had also received four Littoral Mission Ships for the Royal Malaysian Navy and six helicopters for the Air Force.
“In terms of welfare, one of the things I mentioned in the 2022 Mandate is to improve the dividend rate of the Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera (LTAT).
“Alhamdulillah, the Prime Minister (Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob) announced on March 6 that the LTAT dividend for 2021 is 4.1 per cent, which is the highest since 2019,” he said while addressing the Excellent Service Awards ceremony (APC) and breaking of fast ceremony here today.
Hishammuddin said in January last year he had delivered the 2022 Mandate which was laden with plans to be implemented by the ministry this year.
“Today, less than four months (into 2022), it is a pleasure for me to state that part of the plans has been accomplished,” he said.
Apart from that, he said the success rate also raised the spirit of the ministry and LTAT staff to pursue the next stage, including amendment of the Armed Forces Fund Act to enable the retirement fund managed by LTAT to be fully guaranteed by the government.
Hishammuddin explained that the cabinet had given its approval in principle and the matter would be brought to Parliament for amendment this year.
“In the interest of contributors, two issues are given emphasis in the LTAT Act Amendment, which is to provide flexibility so that contributors can choose to increase the employee/individual contribution rate by more than 10 per cent or allow contributors to choose to continue saving with LTAT even after termination of service,” he said.
Meanwhile, a total of 291 Mindef staff and 45 personnel of the Malaysian Armed Forces were selected as recipients of the 2021 APC of which 45 recipients were awarded the Outstanding Service and Character Medal today.
