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Govt. $10B injection to NIS will please seniors

Apr 12, 2025 Letters

Dear Editor:

I am writing concerning the announcement by His Excellency President Mohamed Irfaan Ali of a “one-off cash grant” to be paid out by the NIS to persons who have attained the age of 60 years before the end of 2024 and have made NIS contributions between 500 and 749; just short of the number for a lifetime pension.

This matter has been a niggling sore that many Guyanese workers, especially sugar workers, had with the NIS for decades. Therefore, this policy measure, in such a consistent and integrated manner, illustrates that His Excellency is committed to a transformational agency that will have a positive impact on the lives of the people who toiled for Guyana; the working class.  I am very happy, especially for those sugar workers, who have been suffering for years to secure closure to their case with the NIS because of poor record keeping on many fronts.

Some may want to call it all sorts of names, but one is always greater than zero (1>0).  Significant achievements take time, effort, and money, and rather than seek to focus on the negative, we must switch our minds to reflect on the positives emanating from this announcement.  It means that 20,000 to 25,000 seniors, who through no fault of their own, were being denied NIS benefits for years because some entity either deliberately did not declare all of their contributions or NIS failed to enforce the law.  Well, the good news is that many of these senior citizens are now in a position to collect something greater than zero.  My elders always say, “A bird in the hand is always better than two in the bush”.

Talk is cheap, but to convert words into action is what His Excellency has done and for that, he must be given full credit. There are many needs in the nation. Therefore, diverting G$10 billion, which can be used for other critical developmental purposes, cannot be easy. So well done Your Excellency; this is an exceptional government policy that is designed to empower, satisfy, and bring closure to some cases that have been sitting at NIS for years, some as long as ten-years old.

While I acknowledge that NIS can do a better job at taking steps to implement the findings of the many actuarial reports, improve their record-keeping infrastructure, and increase their enforcement capabilities, this announcement by His Excellency can be classified as delightful news that will bring gladness and happiness to many seniors who have served their country with honour.

This is a positive policy step towards bringing regularity to a situation that has been irregular for a very long time, so well-done President Mohamed Irfaan Ali.

Sasenarine Singh

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