NIS will overcome its challenges – Dr Luncheon

National Insurance Scheme Board Chairman Dr Roger Luncheon has assured that the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) will overcome its challenges with the implementation of action plans, including “a mighty consultation” that is necessary to craft the way forward.

Dr Luncheon, who is also head of the Presidential Secretariat and Cabinet Secretary, made the comment on Monday as he addressed the scheme’s general assembly as part of celebrations to observe its 43rd anniversary. The celebration comes on the heels of criticism from various sections of the media in the wake of recent reports that only 6100, out of 27,000 employers, are paying contributions to the scheme on behalf of their employees.
Dr Luncheon said the problem is not unique to NIS, pointing out that similar entities across the world are often faced with such challenges. “The scheme has put in place the right array of skills, devices and mechanisms for feedback and response,” he said. “While we cannot dispose of our challenges, we will continue to face them with the confidence of 43 years of success, which will allow us to overcome this one, and the next one, and the dozens to come.”
Dr Luncheon, however, pointed out the importance of the involvement of all players on the road to success, noting that NIS cannot do it alone. “Management, the board, and the staff can provide 150 per cent of the effort, but it is not a one-way street. Although much is done by the scheme, its management, director and staff, so much more depends on others, including employers and employees,” he said.
Highlighting the importance of key players, Dr Luncheon alluded to the increase in Guyana’s pensionable population and the growing demand for resources. He said a lack of active participation by key players and limited contributions can result in the scheme going downhill, thereby failing to meet the needs of its clients.
Referring to the NIS Actuarial Report, Dr Luncheon said the entity ought to be proud of its achievement, noting that the scheme has discharged its mandate. “Look at the numbers and projects; each page oozes the remarkable story of NIS for the last five years; this is a scheme that has a quiet determination to proceed along the path that assures delivery of its mandate.”
NIS General Manager Doreen Nelson reflected on many of the scheme’s outstanding achievements in attending to the needs of the country’s workforce and their family members who would have already benefited tremendously. NIS has its main office in Georgetown and 13 branches at strategic locations across the country, providing social security to more than 45,000 pensioners.
For employed persons, she said, the number registered to date is more than 650,000, with the active being 117,000. With respect to the self-employed, more than 29,000 persons have so far been registered, but just 8500 are active and remitting contributions to the scheme.
Turning her attention to 2012, Nelson disclosed that NIS has raked in Gy$ 7.7 billion during the period January-August 2012, but total expenditure for the same period amounted to Gy$ 8.4billion. “The projections to the end of the year show that income from contributions will be Gy$ 11.6 billion, with expenditure at Gy$ 12.9 billion.
If swift interventions are not put into action, Nelson warned that this expenditure gap will increase. “Some reasons have already been advanced for this scenario and those remain valid, namely, a dwindling structured workforce, an expanding informal workforce that is not complying with NIS regulations, non-registration of employees by certain industries, and the reluctance of many self-employed persons to register and remit contributions in accordance with the law,” she said. She, however, noted that NIS will put its “best foot forward” as it faces the challenges ahead.