Why the queries from NIS now?

Dear Editor,

I saw a letter in Stabroek News from the Public Relations Officer at NIS on March 23, 2014 headed ‘NIS payments will be made once claimant clears up queries.’ The first query relates to the registration of death.

When I was there on Friday March 21, I showed the young lady a certified copy of the death certificate; she passed it to another lady to put the information on the computer and to make a copy of the document. So the first query mentioned in the letter was resolved on Friday, March 21, 2014.

The other query concerns the surname on my birth certificate being different from the surname on my marriage certificate. I must state that my birth certificate does not have a surname, only Germina – my first name, As such, I supplied the NIS with an affidavit of identity drawn up by a JP dated April 27, 2007.

This document was accepted by the clerk at NIS. She even made a copy of it. In 2013 when my husband became ill, I got a letter from a nurse at NIS and I was collecting his monthly pension.

I was married to Mr Rampersaud on July 29, 1958. This marriage was legalized on September 1, 1969 and I have 6 children from this union. However, when I went to NIS on Monday, December 16, 2013 and submitted my claim for death expenses, I was told that everything was in order – so why all these queries now?

Yours faithfully,

Germina Rampersaud