Dear Editor,
I am a pensioner living abroad and my NIS no. is (Provided). On 7/2/22, I surrendered my pension vouchers for 3/22 and 4/22 to the pension officer indicating I was going abroad and wanted my pension to be deposited into my bank account. I produced my passport bio and recorded other relevant details on a NIS form in duplicate which was signed by me and the pension officer. I took the forms to my bank and it was countersigned by the bank’s authorized officer. The bank kept a copy and I returned the original to the pension officer the next day. I was told by her that my pension would be paid into my bank account by the third week of the respective month. To date, that promise has become a decertified mirage. I sent several text messages to two different WhatsApp phone nos. which I had been given. I called the nos. several times. They were either engaged or ringing out. I wrote the General Manager twice by e-mail. I sent a request on Live Chat on the NIS website. All I received was the Sound of Silence.
The third week in May has elapsed and my 5/22 pension is now due. I did a video call on a third WhatsApp no. in which I did a video call showing me signing the prescribed form and submitting a new passport bio. I thank that clerk for her diligence and patience in assisting me to do so. All through my working years I have been submitting my NIS payments through my employers. Now that I am in the sunset of my years, is it fair for me to be denied of my pension? It is a legal requirement that all employees, employers and self-employed persons submit their NIS payments within a certain timeframe. Is it not also a legal requirement for pensioners to receive their pension within the required timeframe? One day, all the NIS workers will become pensioners. Would they like to know that their pension is denied to them through bureaucratic red tape? I appeal to Dr. Ashni Singh to assist all pensioners who have faithfully contributed to the NIS and are now denied their rights to a prompt pension. Pensioners are struggling to survive in this inflationary cost of living crisis. Remember the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” (Matt. 7:12). The Silence is deafening.
Regards,
(Name and address supplied)
