President Ali tells NIS Head to “fix it now” as complaints pile up

…helps Region 2 pensioners after multiple concerns raised during outreach

President Dr Irfaan Ali has called on the National Insurance Scheme to address the issues residents in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) are having with their payments remitted to NIS.

During a presidential outreach to Region Two on Wednesday, the Head of State heard multiple complaints about the National Insurance Scheme at the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) office in Anna Regina.
He then instructed NIS Head, Holly Greaves, who was among the high-level team that was at the public event, to “fix it now”.
The Head of State posited that all Guyanese should be treated fairly, and that all agencies and Government offices should be working to enhance the people’s lives and the services they provide.

In response, Greaves assured the President that the issues would be addressed forthwith, as she subsequently met with the aggrieved residents.
Meanwhile, with the intervention of President Ali, at least two pensioners were able to have their NIS woes resolved. One of those persons was Irving James, who left the RDC office a happy man after he was able to collect two months’ back pay of old age pension.
The pensioner had encountered difficulties with collecting the money from last year which was owed to him. He met with President Ali during the outreach and explained his plight. The Head of State immediately directed his team to resolve the issue.
“This uncle did not get his pension for two months, the Ministry sorted it out in two hours,” President Ali announced afterwards.
A total of $39,000 was presented to James by Shannielle Hoosein-Outar, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Social Services.
The pensioner was pleased with the outcome and thanked the President for his intervention, which he said was a relief.
“After a runaround, it’s okay…this is very nice in this crisis,” James related.
Scores of residents met the President at Wednesday’s outreach, where they got the opportunity to raise pressing issues. Key among them were various challenges regarding housing, land titling, pensions and infrastructure.
While discussions between residents and the Government officials were initially held in the top flat of the building, President Ali shifted the meeting venue to the lower flat after being informed that there were several senior citizens and differently abled persons in the line.
The President said his Government is focused on making the lives of each and every Guyanese easier, and is hoping to use these outreaches to help solve some longstanding problems.
Wednesday’s outreach was aimed at reducing the bureaucracy, and saw the collaboration among various agencies to address concerns at the community level.
In addition to NIS, representatives from the Office of the President, the Ministry of Housing and Water, the Central Housing and Planning Authority, the Ministry of Foreign affairs and International Cooperation, Guyana Power and Light (GPL), National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA), the Ministry of Health, the Guyana Police Force, and Regional Officials among others with the President at the Regional Democratic Council in Region Two were also at the outreach to address concerns raised by residents.
At a similar outreach in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), issues relating to NIS had also taken centre stage, and the Head of State had ordered they be resolved.
NIS, which is tasked with paying benefits and collecting contributions, is among one of the most problematic entities, with scores of persons always having issues with their pension payments and/or contributions.