Dear Editor,
My dad died just over two years and the process for my mom to get his NIS benefits was smooth and relatively easy. Then suddenly late last year the benefits ceased.
After attempts to get the matter dealt with from over here were not fruitful, my mom travelled from New York to Guyana in December and was put through many hoops as she was forced to deal with one issue after another. Almost four months hence she’s still waiting.
About two weeks ago I called the NIS in Georgetown and was informed that the paperwork was in order and was being processed.
I was also given a phone number for a manager, but numerous calls went unanswered as each time the phone line was busy – regardless of what day and what time the call was placed. That number is 225-3268. Incidentally some of the numbers on the NIS website are incorrect or not working.
It is indeed ‘a riddle wrapped in an enigma’ that the NIS would take almost four months to resolve a matter of benefit payments owed.
What is even more puzzling is that for almost two years the benefits were paid yet suddenly problems developed even though nothing changed.
The bottom line is that my dad served the sugar industry for almost fifty years and the NIS benefits are what he earned, not a handout or a donation being solicited. One has to indeed wonder whether there is some truth to the view being bandied about that this ‘process’ is aimed at frustrating beneficiaries to give up.
Will the NIS please put the lie to this ‘rumour’?
Yours faithfully,
Annan Boodram
