The People’s National Con-gress Reform-One Guyana (PNCR-1G) yesterday joined calls for a complete overhaul of the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) and said that the organisation was now being looked at as a burden to workers.
Member of Parliament Volda Lawrence made the call at the continuation of the 2007 budget debate yesterday.
Lawrence said the complaints about the customer service offered by staff at the organisation had reached an “all time low” and it was time for something to be done in this regard.
She said for too long the scheme had been having inaccurate records and the time had come for the organisation to be more vigilant when it comes to updating records.
“I myself have been a victim of this and I think that it is time that something serious is done,” Lawrence insisted.
“It is amazing that in this day and age that people have so many problems to get their pensions and many have died and still their problems have not been resolved and so people are now seeing NIS as a burden,” she added.
According to her the $500 reimbursement for doctor’s consultation fees, the $10,000 vouchers for spectacles and the $12,000 reimbursement for funeral expenses is ridiculous and more reason why the organisation was being seen as a burden.
In this vein the party called for the complete reform of the institution and the implementation of prudent management and the close monitoring of the collection of contributions.
Meanwhile, Lawrence acknowledged there have been modest improvements in the old age pensions for pensioners but noted that the amount was still inadequate.
The party said it wants a programme guided by the Senior Citizens report, the National Policy for Senior Citizens and for the government to proceed with the setting up of a functioning commission for the elderly.
The opposition member of parliament also said that it was time for the government to stop “paying lip service to the establishment of a family court and get on with it.” She said it was also time for work to begin and for the national family council to promote the mainstreaming of a family policy into wider sectoral policies.
The opposition party has also called for the setting up of a committee for special recognition of the physically challenged since they are the ones who are more often than not poor and are sometimes excluded from educational and employment opportunities.
“We must consider a disability grant to be set up specially to provide assistance for these people,” she insisted.
Despite legislation, the party felt that enough was still not being done to deal with the high incidence of abuse particular spousal abuse meted out to women.
In her view “the magistracy needs to be sensitized to ensure the full implementation of the law that governs this impediment and the police must also understand the provisions of the law”.
Meanwhile, Human Services and Social Security Minister Priya Manickchand in response said she was heartened by the promise from the opposition members to work with her to achieve the objectives of the ministry.
The minister however offered no response to the opposition calls on the National Insurance Scheme issues. She acknowledged however that the money offered to pensioners was not sufficient, but noted that this was the best that the government could do under the present economic conditions.
The minister said she believed that her ministry was on the right track regarding the pension scheme and the early distribution of pension books which was done last year, will be sustained.
The minister said that her ministry recently held a meeting with an official of the Guyana Post Office Corporation and the official has agreed to have proper arrangement in place to ensure that pensioners could cash vouchers in a timely manner.
However she did not dismiss alternatives, which she said were under consideration, should the post office fail to execute this mandate. “If they fail, I am not opposed to putting a more efficient system in place
