An Open Letter to President Ali: the NIS is sadistically murdering Guyanese, please do something

Aug 26, 2023 Letters

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Dear Editor, 

Excellency, Dr. Ali, it is noted with much respect that over the past two years, you were dispatching the Minister of Finance, Hon. Dr. Ashni Singh, and that NIS (National Insurance Scheme) would dispatch some lower-level officials to certain locations to conduct site visits. Dr. Ashni Singh achieved quite a lot but has not even “touch the wind above the tip of the iceberg.” There is a lot of hurt, shame, pain, degradation, and humiliation in the hearts of Guyanese when it comes to NIS. That many start to shiver in fear and to suffer from anxiety syndrome as a result of what NIS is doing to them. I have a personal thought that the NIS will quickly attend to the ‘well known’, the ‘high and mighty’, out of fear. But they will sadistically torment and humiliate the poor, the neediest, creating all kinds of excuses and scenarios to harass and insidiously slowly murder citizens. Making many sick with depression hoping that they will die before they can collect their NIS benefits. All in an attempt for the NIS to enrich itself.

As a result of the poor management of the NIS, many people are in the streets turning into vagrants and beggars. They claim that according to the NIS, their employers did not remit their contributions; hence, they did not qualify for any benefits or pensions. It is my opinion, that if an employer is not remitting employees NIS contributions, it is poor administration of NIS to not monitor the employers and inflict charges and imprisonment where possible. NIS penalties as far as I know are not criminal. One never reads of any employers who have been known to have stolen up to billions going to jail and facing serious consequences. The NIS is known to try to negotiate with these criminal minded employers and in most cases to fail. They continue to steal after negotiations and never fulfill their agreements after negotiations. Even some security services seem to be cursed with this desire to cheat employees from their benefits. It is my view that it is the NIS that becomes responsible for nonpayment by employers and should fork up the payments/benefits that become due to employees.

However, historically, it has been known that many NIS inspectors were corrupt and some, I am advised, are protecting some corrupt employers even today. I personally know of NIS inspectors in the days of ‘Stamps’ on the NIS contribution cards, that the inspectors would steal the stamps. Some would go to employers and say they came to uplift the cards and replace the old cards with new cards. Then, of course, stealing the stamps and reselling them on the open market of employers willing to buy cheaper to cheat the system.

As I am an ‘old head’ in the security industry, I know for a fact that there was a leakage decades ago in a room where stamps were stored and hundreds of thousands of cards with stamps were destroyed. As a result, poor people suffered as cards then were not computerized.

Some years back, a former security guard came to see me being released from the hospital with his leg amputated. Begging me to help him as RK’s was the only company that he worked with that paid his NIS. All the others stole his NIS contributions and obviously were not filing them. These things could only happen as a result of poor administration, poor management of the NIS. As they are supposed to have an honest, dynamic breed of inspectorate. Motivated with the aim and power to serve the people of this country so that they can get their benefits.

I feel ashamed that even in modern times, the NIS is bent on destroying people’s plans to enjoy their retirement by trying to find excuses not to pay them for any little reasons. One of these reasons it would appear, NIS was intentionally misleading people to put them in trouble in the days when people need their NIS so that even one contribution could be slipped due to NIS not updating their records and advising the people accordingly.

I know of a lady on whose behalf I have been communicating with the NIS. This lady overpaid 30 contributions until NIS stopped her from paying further. Hoping that she would have enjoyed her benefits, the NIS appears to have manipulated her so that she would have missed one contribution. As a poor vendor demolishing her dreams of enjoying her old age pension and possibly joining the vagrants and beggars on the streets, in order to eat. Yet, the NIS like an institution of ‘Spanish, Inquisition’ continues to torture and torment her on a daily basis. This lady is now getting in poorer health every day, still working, selling as a vendor to make ends meet, as the NIS insidiously murders her. The NIS claims that it is one contribution that is missing even though she overpaid by 30 contributions. And in my opinion, it is the fault of the NIS misleading and directing her and maybe many others so that NIS can enrich their coffers while people are suffering and dying, dear Excellency Dr. Irfaan Ali.

I must go back in history, to give credit to then Prime Minister/President, Mr. Burnham. When I was a little boy, I had heard of this NIS idea and chatter in our Upper Corentyne Society. The NIS was established in September 1969 in Guyana and I think it was a good thing. However, while the World Health Organisation was guiding Guyana and other countries in the Caribbean, on the importance of National Insurance, Forbes Burnham was one of the first to initiate it for the benefit of the Guyanese people.

However, it would appear that Guyana from the date of establishment of the NIS got stuck in what was created so many decades ago while other countries modernize and develop this scheme to help their people. Forbes Burnham established the National Insurance Scheme and all the subsequent governments to date have done nothing to modernize the scheme in order to benefit the people and to prevent the people from becoming mendicants, looking for handouts from people in the streets, and even ‘a beggar my neighbour system to survive.’ Then look for Government handouts. People have dignity, people who paid should benefit, Mr. President.

Closer to home, my very dear wife Mrs. Latchmin Khan qualifies, was told that everything was okay. Then suddenly we got a request for more information from NIS. That request was fulfilled. Then we got another request for information, that request was fulfilled also. Again, as usual with this institution of sadism, the entire thing seems to have been staged in order to enrich the NIS. To date Mrs. Khan has not gotten her benefits. The entire conspiracy within NIS and its Board of Directors seems orchestrated to enrich the NIS and ‘pull wool over the government’s eye.’

I know of a case of another person who had asked me to assist, and I did. That person is now entitled and has all the correspondence from NIS saying that they qualify and have fulfilled and met the criteria to receive their NIS benefits. But here they are playing with that lady’s benefits and her sanity. It seems the NIS romances the hope that she would die, and would not have a chance to make a claim. Once again for the NIS to fatten it’s “belly.”

Too many businesspeople have been stealing the workers NIS, denying their workers their rights. Inclusive of security services, I am ashamed to say. Some bribing their way to get compliances to tender. Other security services have two or three employees’ insurance contribution record books to fool the NIS, VAT, PAYE systems in this country. So that NIS gets nothing, and the workers get nothing. Even employing contracted security guards to get the compliances to win major government security contracts. The aim of contracted security guards is to hide from the Tax and the NIS system. Yet the ones that are fully legal, uncorrupted, have to suffer the consequences. Even employers such as famous rice millers in Essequibo and other areas in the country. Similar with other industries in the country also.

These companies usually declare bankruptcy. There was a security company UAS&DS, which no longer exists today, but usurped billions of dollars from NIS. Another security service changed names, kept the uniform, even the location of operation and yet was allowed to perpetuate these crimes. This particular security service continues to cheat its employees of their benefits and the NIS of funds to enhance their coffers. Some of those who declare bankruptcy had already transported their company’s wealth to the United Kingdom, The Swiss Bank, and Offshore Accounts around the Caribbean and other countries.

Mr. President! Our President! The President of the People! The people look to you as their God for support and justice. The NIS System as it is, needs to be revamped and modernized. People who are short of one or two contributions as a result of the fault of NIS failing to provide updates, have no right to be denied their benefits. NIS may have the right to pay a lesser sum in benefits but do not have the right to outright deny all benefits since most of the errors is the cause of NIS incompetencies. The mass torture, the mental and physical harassment; the trauma and sickness and deaths caused by NIS to its supposed beneficiaries will be marked by God and the Universe. Many in the senior administration and directorate of the NIS Board will have to face the divine consequences that the universe through the Creator and the Lord God will unleash on them.

Excellency, you cannot depend on the Ministry of Finance to solve this disease of catastrophe and torture. On an urgent basis you need to intervene and pass a policy directive that anyone whom is short by one contribution caused by NIS and might have overpaid to show good intentions receive their benefits. Do you remember Mr. President, how you kindly provided a grant to dialysis patients and NIS wanted to deny the people their NIS benefits because of that grant? You had to intervene, Sir. This Mr. President displays the barbaric character of NIS to create hardship, pain, and the NIS insidious murders, sadistic tortures on the Guyanese people.

Sincerely,

Hajji Dr. Roshan Khan

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• contributions, Forbes Burnham, Guyana, Hajji Dr. Roshan Khan, National Insurance

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