Pension benefits for workers and professionals in the construction industry are now available on a much broader scale, following changes to the rules of the Namibia Building Workes Pension Fund (NBWPF).
At a breakfast meeting on Wednesday 26 July, the fund announced that certain critical rule amendments have been introduced to make the fund more attractive for higher income earners, and to expand the potential membership base.
Per an agreement between the Construction Industries Federation (CIF) and the Building Workers Union, MANWU, the Namibia Building Workers Pension Fund was instituted in 1990. That same agreement made it compulsory for all CIF members to register their workers as members of the fund.
The Principal Officer of the fund, Mr Enwich Kazondu, said “We are reaching out to all professionals in the construction sector to join the NBWPF and register themselves and their employees with the fund. The NBWPF has been created as an umbrella fund for the construction sector and we really understand the industry. With the recent rule amendments we now can cater for all employers and employees in Namibia’s construction sector”.
The fund is now in a position to accommodate members from the various professional associations that provide serviced to the construction industry. These include the Engineering Council of Namibia and the Namibia Council for Architects and Quantity Surveyors, as well as the Association of Consulting Engineers, Engineering Professions Association of Namibia, the Institute of Namibian Quantity Surveyors, the Namibian Institute of Architects, the Namibian Society of Engineers, and the Namibian Renewable Energy Industry Association.
Chief Executive of the Construction Industries Federation, Ms Bärbel Kirchner, said “Whilst the provision of a pension fund is mandatory for workers on construction sites, the aim is to encourage employers to include all their employees and that employers of related industry professions – architects, engineers and quantity surveyors – also make provision for retirement benefits for themselves and their employees.”
Mr Gordon Goeieman, chairperson of the NBWPF trustees, and member of the executive committee of the Construction Industries Federation, commented “We are extremely proud that we are ahead of the game and that our sector is one of the few, if not the only sector where the provision of a pension fund is mandatory. But let’s face it, the mandatory requirement will eventually extend to sectors beyond the construction industry. Taking into consideration the current global as well as our local economic environment, it becomes obvious that everyone needs to make provisions for retirement, starting as soon as possible.”