Dear Editor,
We will be most grateful if you would publish in your letter columns our grave concerns now affecting all N.I.S pensioners ever since the current N.I.S board was installed in 2020.
There is a freeze on any increase in the monthly N.I.S pensions, which is unprecedented since N.I.S was established in 1969.
The steep increase in the cost of living during this period, which has been witnessed by all, has been exacerbated by a global and/or localised scenario. Most N.I.S pensioners now cannot cope, and a lot of them are now newly undernourished.
The N.I.S board/Gov’t should desist from any further neglect or exploitation of N.I.S pensioners because they have been peaceful and defenceless. This may not happen for long, as a number of them are agitating for their increased benefit and compensation, and an unruly situation can evolve, given the few meetings they had recently in Georgetown, Better Hope, Lusignan, Melanie, and Port Mourant.
The current N.I.S board does not have a clue about managing the affairs of N.I.S and enhancing the social security and benefits to the nation’s senior citizens (60 years), as distinct from 65 years, which the Gov’t will consider as senior citizens with this category given a few grants since 2020.
We believe that Government should seriously consider dismantling the current board of directors, as they did with GuySuCo, and install one that is more professional and results-oriented; one that can advance the investment interest with NIS funds locally and internationally. And we believe that the chairperson should be a senior citizen with international investment experience, or possibly a person coming from the diaspora, where numerous N.I.S pensioners reside.
We have been hearing recently about the demands for reparatory compensation for the descendants of African slaves, which all of Guyana should support. In like manner, the N.I.S pensioners are now seeking reparative justice, to right the wrongs they have painfully endured for the past 3 years from the current board of directors and the elusive nature of the Government, to bring relief and comfort, and in numerous cases improve their impoverished situation.
We sincerely trust the Government/Cabinet is not oblivious to the current plight of N.I.S pensioners, and has empathy for their just cause. We believe the earnings from the oil wealth should be apportioned to give a reasonable compensation package, deposited into the N.I.S account for equitable distribution in addition to an increase of about $5000 across the board on their monthly pension. This should be a firm humanitarian and goodwill gesture, as this is the only means by which pensioners can benefit from the oil wealth and override their severe hardships.
Yours faithfully,
Concerned
pensioner
