Some National Insurance Scheme (NIS) pensioners in the Rupununi are anxious to know when the NIS plans another visit to the area as they have been unable to access their pensions since February.
An arrangement is in place where an NIS officer from Georgetown visits the area regularly to dispatch these and all related duties. The last time an officer visited the area was February. Pensioner Carl Agard told Stabroek News on Monday that he was heading to the city to resolve some of the problems he had with the agency. He said he had not received his pension since November 2009. Another pensioner Pearline Usher, a retired public servant, complained that she is unable to meet her responsibilities without her pension. “I have commitments; phone bills, light bills and a grandson that I am looking after. It is very difficult when the pensions are not paid on time,” she said.
In an interview with this newspaper, an officer from the NIS office at Brickdam acknowledged that there was a problem servicing the Rupununi area because of the high costs of transportation and other related costs. In response to a question about the NIS establishing an office in the region, the officer said the idea is under consideration and a decision is expected to be made soon. The source also pointed out that if an office is established in the region it would only be a satellite office that would address minor issues and major issues would still have to be referred to Georgetown. The officer also said NIS has offices in all but regions eight and nine.
“We already have given the best part of our lives in the service to our country, and under some very harsh conditions, we do not deserve this kind of treatment in our old age,” one pensioner said. Pensioner Dereck Williams told this newspaper that about 30 years ago a permanent officer had been based in the region but after he was recalled a visiting officer was appointed. This arrangement had been in place for some time, he said, then another permanent officer was placed in the area.
Williams, a retired Sub-Treasury Officer, also recalled that an arrangement had existed in the past where regional officials on their trips to the city, would uplift books from the NIS. He said this practice was discontinued at the request of the NIS. He and other affected pensioners told this newspaper that they were in favour of having a permanent office established in the Region. “It will not only look after pensions, but there is the case of the self employed and other employers in the region. This office is really needed now, because I am certain that many of the stores in and around Lethem are not paying NIS for their workers. And then there is the case of Compliance for contractors. NIS will do brisk business here in Lethem,” he said.
