Dear Editor,
I am writing in regard to the announcement made by His Excellency President Mohamed Irfaan Ali of a “one-off cash grant”: to be paid by the NIS to persons who have attained the age of 60 years before the end of 2024 and have made between 500 and 749 NIS contributions – just short of the number for a lifetime pension.
This matter has been a niggling sore that many Guyanese workers, especially sugar workers, have had with 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 would 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 respective cases with the NIS, but could not 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 negatives, we must reflect on the positives emanating from this announcement. It means much to some 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 those 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 converting 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, and diverting G$10 billion which could have been used for other critical developmental purposes could not have been 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 for as long as ten years.
While I acknowledge that NIS could 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 would 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 Dr Irfaan Ali!
Sincerely,
Sasenarine Singh
