Dear Editor,
I live in D’Edward village and my NIS number is B-10323467.
During the year 2001 whilst serving in the Guyana Police Force, I was shot at by six bandits in Corentyne while on duty. All the shots went into the left arm and I had three surgeries. The last one was in 2003 when some foreign bodies were removed, but there are about eleven still lodged in the arm.
My arm is still bent and causes constant pain. I used to play hard and softball cricket and volleyball, but after receiving these injuries I cannot play any longer because of the bent arm. During the year 2002 I applied for a disability benefit, and I was taken by the then Police Welfare Officer, Mrs Theobald, to see the NIS doctor in Georgetown. The doctor whose name I cannot recall examined me and told me that I would receive disability until death. Low and behold. during the year 2011 I was summoned to see the NIS Medical Advisor at Fort Wellington NIS office. I told the medical advisor that I could not see the reason for this examination, because my arm had not improved, and furthermore, the doctor who did the first examination had told me that the benefit was “until death.” However, I continued to receive the disability benefit.
During the month of July 2015, I again was told that I had to see the NIS Medical Advisor. I told them that I was not dead and could see no reason for this examination. At present I have not received disability for the month of August, and I will not get any for the month of September because the letter to see the advisor is dated 23rd September 2015. Whether the Medical Advisor is on leave or not, there should be a system in place to look after claimants; we are not supposed to wait two or three months to see the doctor and another extra month to receive our benefits.
What kind of system is this that causes us to suffer? Is there anyone sitting on the NIS Board who knows that we in Berbice have been waiting to see the Medical Advisor for 2 to 3 months. Do the people in government know exactly what is going on in Berbice where we have to wait months to get our benefits certified by an advisor before we can receive payment? This is the system of the previous government. Also are NIS trying to regain some of the money that they lost through the Berbice Bridge in which they invested? They cannot take that out on people like us; there are ways and means to recover the money invested in the Berbice Bridge. But let this stupidity stop; I am not dead yet, and the doctor says ‘until I die.’
Yours faithfully,
Collin Fraser
Editor’s note
We are sending a copy of this letter to Ms Dianne Lewis-Baxter, the PRO of the National Insurance Scheme for any comment she might wish to make.
