back-payment after the Senate yesterday passed two bills.

Government Leader in the Senate Milton Scott said one applied to Civil Service pensions and the other to anyone who received a pension through the Social Insurance system -- which covered the aged, disabled and widowers.

He said the legislation should have been passed prior to July last year but the United Bermuda Party Government failed to introduce it in the House of Assembly in time.

While the increases were only in line with inflation, because of the delay in passing the bills, pension recipients could expect the hikes to be dated back to July last year.

The retroactive increases range from half a percent for those pensioners whose pensions began in the first half of last year to four percent for pensioners who began receiving payments in the first half of 1996.

The Pensions (Increase) Order 1999 affects all Bermudians receiving a Social Insurance Pension, while the Pensions (Public Service Superannuation Act 1981) (Increase) Order 1999 applies to civil service pensions.

The legislation should be rubber-stamped by the Governor within the next few weeks, after which it would take effect.

Several Senators used the debate over the routine bills, which are passed every two years to raise their concerns over the organisation of Bermuda's pension funds.

Sen. Scott said a "silent crime'' of employers deducting Social Insurance payments from workers' pay cheques but not handing them over to Government was prevalent in Bermuda and not discovered until it was too late.

He implored all citizens to check the deductions were being passed on to the Social Insurance department and not being pocketed by greedy employers -- both big businesses and small.

"Everyone should check and make sure their payments are there so the return from the fund is maximised.'' Opposition Senate Leader Maxwell Burgess called on the Government to keep a "watchful eye'' on its pension arrangements for Bermuda's ageing population.

He said the worldwide phenomenon that the senior population was expanding dramatically at the expense of the working population meant there would be less people paying into pension funds but more drawing on them.

Sen. Scott agreed that Bermuda's ageing population presented a "challenge'' to Government and said it was a fact of life that the "burden falls on us who are working''.

Sen. Calvin Smith (PLP) described the Baby Boomer generation -- aged now between 35 and 55 -- were "hurtling toward retirement'' and a "time bomb waiting to go off''.

"I'm very concerned about this since most advanced countries have been working on this problem for the past 20 years,'' he said.

"It is easily one of the biggest social problems we've got facing us in the next couple of decades.'' Sen. Kim Swan (UBP) said one solution would be to discard the fixed retirement age of 65 so people could continue working -- broadening contributions going to the Social Insurance fund.

Sen. Calvin Smith: Baby boomers headed for retirement