(1) A person who has

(a) satisfied the minimum contribution period of not less than one hundred and eighty months,

(b) attained the age of sixty years or fifty-five years in the case of an underground mine worker or a worker specified in subsection (2) or has opted for voluntary retirement with reduced pension, and

(c) filed an application for superannuation benefit, is entitled to a pension payment for each month beginning with the first month in which the person becomes entitled to the payment.

(2) A person who has satisfied the minimum contribution period and has worked as an underground mine worker or in a quarry or in steel works or in any other employment and is likely to contract industrial diseases as defined in section 12 (2) of the Factories Offices and Shops Act, 1971 (Act 328) by virtue of that employment is entitled to full pension benefit upon attaining the age of fifty-five years.