Getting vital records from officialdom is a frustrating experience

Dear Editor,

In mid-July I ventured to Guyana for a ten-day vacation. I was anxious to return to the land of my birth after eight years to visit relatives, friends, and most of all to apply for my pension from the National Insurance Scheme.

I was excited to be in Guyana. I spent most of the time at our heritage home at Chester Village, West Coast Berbice. I was fascinated with the development that was taking place in the country. Commerce was thriving and the people were friendly and happy as they went about their daily chores. Interacting with them and listening to their conversations made me more resolute to make more frequent trips to the land that I still called the “green green grass of home.”

“Assignment Guyana,” as I dubbed my expedition took me to several parts of Regions Four, Five and Six. I admired the many spectacular buildings that were constructed, with the various architectural designs that still amaze me. The speeding traffic also left me in a state of awe. I could not imagine on such a narrow strip of road from Georgetown to Rosignol, that so many vehicles were traversing at such a fast rate.

I made my application for my pension at the National Insurance Scheme’s office at Fort Wellington in Region Five on July 17, 2014. The clerks were very friendly and receptive. I had worked from January 1971 to November 1989 as a teacher, so I had expected that my NIS contributions would be up to date. I was given a hard copy of my contributions which showed that I had only 728 contributions. I told the clerks at the office that the information in the NIS database has was wrong. Those contributions will entitle me to a pittance for my pension. Incidentally, when I presented my NIS card I was told that the card was a temporary one. I filled out a form to get a permanent card with a new number. With such discrepancies in my contributions, I am left to wonder if the new number will be reconciled with the old one. For me to get an accurate record of my NIS contributions, I was told that I have to get my employment records from the Ministry of Education in Georgetown.

It was my expectation that I would be able to apply for my pension and the process would have taken a few hours. I could not imagine that I had to spend so much time and energy to get a simple process to execute.

On the morning July, 18, 2014, I was quickly transported in a minibus that traverses the Rosignol-Georgetown Highway. I was on my way to Georgetown to get that much needed record of service from the Ministry of Education. At the Ministry of Education, I did the usual paperwork and payment for a print- out of my much needed record of service. At the personnel section of the ministry, I was introduced to an official. He was very cordial and co-operative. He told me that they cannot find my file and that he will have to request my file from the Teaching Service Commission. He promised that he will get my record in about four working days. He gave me his telephone number for me to contact him. As my time was limited in Guyana, I told the official that I will leave my brother to contact him and to subsequently uplift my record. My brother has been calling ever since and up now he gets the same answer – call back tomorrow or the next day. In this age of technology, an employee’s record should be accessed in minutes if not seconds.

I am therefore at a loss as to when I will be able to access my record of service from my former employer. When I migrated to teach in another Caribbean country in 1989, to get my records at the Ministry of Education was a nightmare. Twenty-five years later, I have entered an area of darkness at that ministry. When I will get my record of service only time will tell. As I will be sixty years old in two weeks’ time, I am wondering what my pension will be from the National Insurance Service.

My vacation was an enjoyable one. Guyanese are proud of their country. This is the land of my birth. However, the frustration one has to go through to get vital records boggles my mind. I can imagine what the ordinary citizen has to go through to get vital documents like birth certificates and passports.

Yours faithfully,
Jamaladeen Ishmael