Dear Editor,
This is the NIS’ response to a news item in the March 14th 2012 edition of SN captioned `NIS inspector ejected from Wales estate – sources’.
A National Insurance Inspector in the execution of his duties has the power to enter at all reasonable times any premises or place where he has reasonable grounds for supporting that persons are employed in a trade. The employer or his servants or agents shall furnish to an Inspector all such information and produce for inspection all such documents that he may require for the purpose of ascertaining whether contributions are or have been payable or have been duly paid by and in respect of any person. And the Inspector if he considers it necessary may, make copies of or extract from, the documents so produced, and for that purpose he shall have power to take possession of the documents.
To delay or obstruct an Inspector in the exercise of his power described above is an offence and for which summary proceedings may be instituted under the National Insurance and Social Security Act Chapter 36:01.
On Friday March 02, 2012 at Wales Estate, servants of said estate willfully obstructed an Inspector in the exercise of his duties.
As a consequence, appropriate summonses have been filed against the offending servants and the cases will be heard at the Wales Magistrate’s Court.
With respect to the incident involving Omprakash Shivraj, because of the circumstances that accompanied the event, the matter was reported to the police, whom it is expected will institute charges based on the offences committed.
To suggest that the Administration has not attended to the concerns raised by the Inspectors is not only inaccurate but intended to malign senior staff.
For the records, meetings were held with the staff and the National Insurance Board out of which a policy guideline was framed and put into operation whenever Inspectors are to go to areas presumed or likely to be hostile.
In closing, please note that the Organisation through its known dedicated Inspectors will continue to go out into the fields to ensure protection for the dependant and vulnerable employees and some self employed workers in the face of social contingencies.
Yours faithfully,
Dianne Lewis Baxter
Publicity and Public Relations Officer
