DDL’s Managing Director to head up NIS new board of directors

Feb 15, 2023 News

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…tasked with ensuring long-term viability of the Scheme

Kaieteur News – Ramesh Persaud, the Managing Director of Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL), has been appointed as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the ailing National Insurance Scheme (NIS).

The appointment was made at the end of last month, by Senior Minister within the Office of the President, responsible for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh.

Dated January 19, last, a formal notice published in the Official Gazette indicating that Cabinet had considered a Memorandum presented by Dr. Singh, to appoint the members of the NIS Board of Directors.

In addition to Persaud’s appointment as Chairman, Holly Greaves was chosen as his deputy.

Other board members approved to serve for a one year period effective January 1 last, includes, People Progressive Party Civic (PPPC) Member of Parliament (MP), Fazal Jaffarally, Maurice Solomon, Satanand Gopie, Kathleen Jason, Yvonne Pearson, Gillian Burton-Persaud and Seepaul Narine.

The appointments have been dated just four days after Dr. Singh would have presented the National Estim

ates for 2023 and lamented the state of affairs at NIS.

During that presentation, he observed that NIS has historically been the provider of social security when earnings are interrupted by illness or accident, for exceptional expenses related to birth or death and for retirement by age.

He said that “indeed, for many pensioners this has been their only source of income. It is for these reasons that the efficiency of the operation of the Scheme is critical because in many instances lives, health and wellness are dependent on this source of income.”

To this end, he indicated that Government has been proactive in its support of the Agency and has in the immediate term urged the newly appointed Board of the Scheme to prioritize resolving the inherited backlog of long outstanding matters.

The National Estimates were presented to the House on January 16 last and the appointments formalized on January 19, with the signature of the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira.

In his presentation prior to the appointments, Dr. Singh had indicated that the new board will be tasked also with addressing the deficiencies in the systems within the Scheme, in addition to implementing programmes to improve compliance by delinquent employers, to protect the interests of all working people.

To this end, he noted that, as of August 2020, the backlog of claims outstanding and on query was 20,106 and noted that, “it is encouraging that as of December 2022, the backlog was reduced to 10,902.” It was further stated that, of the 1,362,734 suspense and invalid numbers existing in the database, the Scheme was able to resolve 1,103,835 during 2022.

NIS last year operationalized the connection for electronic transfers into the national payment system architecture, which resulted in 750 pensioners being paid directly into their bank accounts at one commercial bank.

According to Dr. Singh, it is anticipated that this service will be expanded to cover all commercial banks during 2023, thereby enabling thousands of pensioners to be paid directly into their bank account.

He said too, that compliance campaigns and expanded outreaches will continue to be an active strategy, “to ensure that we educate both employers and workers of their benefits from joining the Scheme.”

Poignantly, Dr. Singh did observe that the financial viability of the Scheme has over the years depended primarily on the contributors’ payments and that “most importantly, medium- and longer-term solutions continue to be actively examined with a view to ensuring the long-term viability of the Scheme.”

Other Appointments

Other board appointments considered and confirmed include members for the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC).

The positions were proffered by Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat and since approved by Cabinet.

As such, the new GFC Chairperson appointed is Sandra Indira Vanessa Benn. Other board members of the GFC include Andrew Bishop, Nazim Hussain, Zamal Hussain, Jacques Foster of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) and Yvonne Pearson. Other posts approved include ex officio members, Commissioner of Forests and a GFC Legal Officer.

Additionally, the board will include representatives of the Forest Producers Association, the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs, the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association in addition to a Guyana Agricultural and Workers Union.

Attorney-at-Law Rajendra Jaigobin, was also approved to sit on the Board.

Other official appointments for this year include those for the Guyana National Bureau of Standards, to be headed by Chairman, former Ministry of Finance Executive, Sukrishnalall Pasha, who will be supported by an Ex Officio Vice Chair, Errol La Cruz. Other members to secure Cabinet’s approval for appointment to the board include, Bank of Guyana Governor, Dr. Gobind Ganga, Lennox Benjamin, Donald Dyal, Sabina Savory and Evelyn Hamilton.

As it relates to the State owned, Guyana Oil Company, Paul Cheong has retained Chairmanship of that Board with other members including Yogieraj Das, Abena Moore, Vishnu Bandhu, Donald Dyal , and Tracy Blair.

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• Abena Moore, Donald Dyal, Rajendra Jaigobin, Vishnu Bandhu, Yogieraj Das

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