Dear Editor,
I have been assisting a friend of mine who from all evidence produced, became pensionable in 2001.
He appealed the grant issued to him. The tribunal awarded him a pension. That ruling was overturned by the then General Manager of the Scheme in 2014/15 since then he has been repeatedly asking for a revisit of the ruling by the General Manager.
In 2018 some additional contributions were unearthed by the NIS itself. A renewed request was made for reconsideration of his position. In addition to the now 650+ deductions certified by the scheme, he has provided evidence of more than four clear years he worked with the then Ministry of Works and Hydraulics.
However he is continually being told that the law governing a revisit requires the appointment of a Commissioner of National Insurance. The last appointee to that position died about 10 years ago. Are we awaiting his reincarnation?
It is my view that with the additional contributions found in 2018 it lies within the competence of the incumbent Chief Executive to revisit what had been done by the previous incumbent.
The pensioner continues to work under great physical discomfort because of this inhumane and uncaring behaviour on the part of the scheme. I hope this is not the manner in which the National Insurance Scheme in the rest of the Caribbean treats its contributors.
Yours faithfully,
Ethel McCaskey
