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AS one who is quickly approaching the age for my NIS pension, I wish to ensure that the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) is vibrant and well. I have written over the years of the factors that are killing the NIS, which might turn out to be the murder of the scheme, a murder which could result in national chaos. The government of the day has the responsibility to ensure that this scheme is managed in a most professional manner, and to institute laws with steel claws that bite and gets into the flesh.
I notice one letter writer saying that the NIS need not use threats, to plead with the people. People accustomed to the theft of easy money, in this case, of the NIS contributions of employees, no pleadings will work with them. They need maximum pressure.
Please note the following:
1. Suing the thieves in court will take forever with our sick judicial system. Then filing as a private entity in court is sluggish and virtually useless. So make it a very serious criminal matter involving serious fines, seizure of properties, mobile and immobile, and serious jail sentences. The laws must be of such that no one who collected NIS and did not pay it in could ever declare bankruptcy; they must pay or go to jail. The laws must be that the defendant has to prove his innocence, and not the NIS has to prove him guilty; like the labour laws, it should not be the NIS to prove guilt, but the thief must prove his innocence.
2. It is fraud: Theft of any funds collected for a purpose or for another is fraud. From the time it is criminalised, lay private criminal charges against people who do not remit their personal NIS funds (such as self-employed), and employers who collect workers monies for the NIS. Not remitting, and using these monies is blatant fraud and theft. Whether using private means for fraud charge or whether it is the law as a crime, take immediate action. Do not hope and believe that cajoling will be of any use. As soon as the summons is delivered, monies will start coming in by the billions, and also let them pay for everything in the past. Theft of NIS is fraud, a crime!!!
I wish the government, and the NIS could understand this, and those employers who steal workers benefits must know this or feel the pressure. If after being summoned for fraud, they wish to settle, they must pay all interest due, all back charges, all deductions ever made, and also a penalty. Make the profits of their thefts bitter to their mouths and their colons.
3. It boggles my mind the schemes these people come up with to fool the NIS and steal the people’s benefits to fatten themselves and their families. I know of a large rice magnate, who went bankrupt in the Essequibo, and with it went the contributions of employees for decades, and also the taxes of workers they collected. How the NIS and government could have allowed this, even the GRA to allow people to owe hundreds of millions accumulated, and then they declare bankruptcy.
4. I am ashamed to say I know of security services which steal their workers’ NIS contributions to enrich themselves, while depending on their work force as their most precious natural resource. One security service operating for over 20 years in Guyana was kicked out of Jamaica for theft of NIS contributions.
In Guyana, they went into an arrangement to settle with the NIS on a monthly payment scheme for the outstanding, but the NIS forgot their current payment, and was fooled by the monthly arrangement. Then that company never honoured that agreement and still never paid the outstanding sum. Instead, they keep all the monies to themselves, the past, and current, and if an employee gets into trouble, then they dole out some cash to quickly settle the matter. This is the kind of things that happen in this country; I am ashamed to say, even by security services, some belonging to the prestigious GAPSO. Having two books, some fool the NIS. Again, the same for GRA and VAT thefts. Some security services,in GAPSO and out of it, specialise in stealing VAT as a source of income for their personal aggrandisement. People who steal NIS, will rob the GRA, and definitely rob the VAT.
5. One security service owned by a trade union robbed workers of NIS for decades, and the same for GRA, never paying their income taxes. It is virtually defunct, but still operates, while having robbed the workers their wages, their NIS and the state of taxes. How can a government allow this in this country?
6. One outfit calling itself a security service, its owner never having gone to even High School, no certification, his only qualification being a political alliance he always boasts of. He operates his outfit which can win all government security contracts, where the criteria are cheapest rates, even though its rates cannot compensate even for wages, but he under staffs locations, and survive by stealing the NIS, and he boasts that he cooks Roti and dhaal puri for political campaigns.
The same submitted a forged GRA compliance but was never blacklisted by the GRA or the Tender Board. Not having paid tens of millions in accumulated debts, he went into an arrangement with NIS, and gets compliances while not paying for the current 4,000 employees he employs in the country, only paying for the arrangement with NIS for the past, and NIS cannot see or realise this. This service is not a member of GAPSO. It is so easy to find out which entities and with how many ranks, and the NIS will easily know how much monies are due. Same for VAT. It never advertises for employees or for sites, being guaranteed government security contracts by virtue of tendering at rates below costs. The technique is to place lesser ranks on locations contrary to contract, and stealing NIS and PAYE taxes.
This nonsense must end! No one must feel politically connected and politically protected when they commit atrocities, cause social destruction, affect peoples’ lives and place pressure on the government and its agencies to care for the elderly after employers have stolen the NIS and these poor people could not source their benefits. If workers get their pensions and benefits after a life time of work, they would not be in the streets. They would not end up in shelters. Today, when parents get old and cannot handle themselves financially, children sometimes put them out of the house.
7. It is high time that people are blacklisted from getting NIS compliances when they steal NIS funds or GRA taxes; and sweet talk with political connections must not work. It is fraud because the funds are collected on behalf of the NIS, and not paid over. Is this so hard for the NIS , the police and the government to understand?
I always look upon NIS and PAYE frauds as a low-life crime, as they affect peoples lives and the government of valued revenue needed for the development of the country. How can an employer live and eat and enjoy knowing that he steals workers sweat and blood, and when they age they cannot get their pensions or medical benefits? I sometimes wonder how they can look themselves in the mirror in the morning and how they sleep. They have to be most shamefaced as the Trinidadians say. We call it ‘barefaced’ in Guyana.
We have seen how some powerful Guyanese entrepreneurs physically assault the NIS Inspectors and never get charged. Employers must never feel so bold that they can beat the enforcers of laws and escape the law. No government must ever allow this. This is a dangerous thing. Then we know of corruption within the NIS and tax departments. But we have seen how the Commissioner-General deals with his corrupted officers. I always applaud him for this. NIS needs to do likewise.
This laxity in prosecution and carelessness in record-keeping of NIS information existed since the Burnhamite era, and ashamedly trickled down to this Dawn of the New Era. No industry must be allowed to defraud the state of its revenues and the peoples of this country of their benefits. It is vicious, wicked, and most evil to virtually eat the flesh of ones employees by stealing their NIS contributions of the employee. How can a government ever allow this? If they are in trouble because of negligence, then they deserve it.
As a citizen of this country I speak, and I speak the truth, if anyone is annoyed for this letter and its tone, then fine, as this is a vexatious and principled issue, and I make no apologies for the tone of my message to the nation. I am very emotional over this issue because I am involved with the Guyana Islamic Forum and the Masjid Al-Munawar, where we feed over 1200 people three or four times weekly with nutritious and delicious meals, inclusive of the Palms, the street people, the children’s drop-in centre and the Dharm Shala. I listen to their miseries, their pains and how their employers never paid their NIS , or they had to leave the home as they could not contribute, and many develop mental health issues. The government tries to house and feed them, provide medicine and hygiene in fairness, but if the NIS were paid to deserving people, it would not have such a major problem in the country.
I know of an occasion of a sweet gentleman, who served with us for a few years, later left our company, fell ill and was hospitalised with serious diabetes. His right leg was amputated, and he was discharged. He came straight to my office from the hospital, bleeding from the stump above his knee near the groin, crying and screaming for help as he had no relative, and hugging me as he laid on the ground in my office crying that he regretted serving a security service in Hadfield Street for over a decade, another in Charlotte and King Streets, and one in Lamaha Street, and that only RK’s paid his contributions: ‘Mr. Khan, De thief my life, dey thief me contributions, they make me a street beggar, only you Sir paid for my NIS and I can only get a small grant.” I sent him home with a company vehicle and some cash from my pocket. For such misery and terror I hold the NIS management, their corrupted officers (they were worse during the Burnhamite era in corruption). None in government should excuse themselves. They should accept and try to save the scheme, admit their shortcomings and move on.
I hope this letter causes the government of the day to move with serious dynamism with what I consider a serious disease in the NIS . Send them to jail and seize their properties.
I notice one letter writer saying that the NIS need not use threats, to plead with the people. People accustomed to the theft of easy money, in this case, of the NIS contributions of employees, no pleadings will work with them. They need maximum pressure.
Please note the following:
1. Suing the thieves in court will take forever with our sick judicial system. Then filing as a private entity in court is sluggish and virtually useless. So make it a very serious criminal matter involving serious fines, seizure of properties, mobile and immobile, and serious jail sentences. The laws must be of such that no one who collected NIS and did not pay it in could ever declare bankruptcy; they must pay or go to jail. The laws must be that the defendant has to prove his innocence, and not the NIS has to prove him guilty; like the labour laws, it should not be the NIS to prove guilt, but the thief must prove his innocence.
2. It is fraud: Theft of any funds collected for a purpose or for another is fraud. From the time it is criminalised, lay private criminal charges against people who do not remit their personal NIS funds (such as self-employed), and employers who collect workers monies for the NIS. Not remitting, and using these monies is blatant fraud and theft. Whether using private means for fraud charge or whether it is the law as a crime, take immediate action. Do not hope and believe that cajoling will be of any use. As soon as the summons is delivered, monies will start coming in by the billions, and also let them pay for everything in the past. Theft of NIS is fraud, a crime!!!
I wish the government, and the NIS could understand this, and those employers who steal workers benefits must know this or feel the pressure. If after being summoned for fraud, they wish to settle, they must pay all interest due, all back charges, all deductions ever made, and also a penalty. Make the profits of their thefts bitter to their mouths and their colons.
3. It boggles my mind the schemes these people come up with to fool the NIS and steal the people’s benefits to fatten themselves and their families. I know of a large rice magnate, who went bankrupt in the Essequibo, and with it went the contributions of employees for decades, and also the taxes of workers they collected. How the NIS and government could have allowed this, even the GRA to allow people to owe hundreds of millions accumulated, and then they declare bankruptcy.
4. I am ashamed to say I know of security services which steal their workers’ NIS contributions to enrich themselves, while depending on their work force as their most precious natural resource. One security service operating for over 20 years in Guyana was kicked out of Jamaica for theft of NIS contributions.
In Guyana, they went into an arrangement to settle with the NIS on a monthly payment scheme for the outstanding, but the NIS forgot their current payment, and was fooled by the monthly arrangement. Then that company never honoured that agreement and still never paid the outstanding sum. Instead, they keep all the monies to themselves, the past, and current, and if an employee gets into trouble, then they dole out some cash to quickly settle the matter. This is the kind of things that happen in this country; I am ashamed to say, even by security services, some belonging to the prestigious GAPSO. Having two books, some fool the NIS. Again, the same for GRA and VAT thefts. Some security services,in GAPSO and out of it, specialise in stealing VAT as a source of income for their personal aggrandisement. People who steal NIS, will rob the GRA, and definitely rob the VAT.
5. One security service owned by a trade union robbed workers of NIS for decades, and the same for GRA, never paying their income taxes. It is virtually defunct, but still operates, while having robbed the workers their wages, their NIS and the state of taxes. How can a government allow this in this country?
6. One outfit calling itself a security service, its owner never having gone to even High School, no certification, his only qualification being a political alliance he always boasts of. He operates his outfit which can win all government security contracts, where the criteria are cheapest rates, even though its rates cannot compensate even for wages, but he under staffs locations, and survive by stealing the NIS, and he boasts that he cooks Roti and dhaal puri for political campaigns.
The same submitted a forged GRA compliance but was never blacklisted by the GRA or the Tender Board. Not having paid tens of millions in accumulated debts, he went into an arrangement with NIS, and gets compliances while not paying for the current 4,000 employees he employs in the country, only paying for the arrangement with NIS for the past, and NIS cannot see or realise this. This service is not a member of GAPSO. It is so easy to find out which entities and with how many ranks, and the NIS will easily know how much monies are due. Same for VAT. It never advertises for employees or for sites, being guaranteed government security contracts by virtue of tendering at rates below costs. The technique is to place lesser ranks on locations contrary to contract, and stealing NIS and PAYE taxes.
This nonsense must end! No one must feel politically connected and politically protected when they commit atrocities, cause social destruction, affect peoples’ lives and place pressure on the government and its agencies to care for the elderly after employers have stolen the NIS and these poor people could not source their benefits. If workers get their pensions and benefits after a life time of work, they would not be in the streets. They would not end up in shelters. Today, when parents get old and cannot handle themselves financially, children sometimes put them out of the house.
7. It is high time that people are blacklisted from getting NIS compliances when they steal NIS funds or GRA taxes; and sweet talk with political connections must not work. It is fraud because the funds are collected on behalf of the NIS, and not paid over. Is this so hard for the NIS , the police and the government to understand?
I always look upon NIS and PAYE frauds as a low-life crime, as they affect peoples lives and the government of valued revenue needed for the development of the country. How can an employer live and eat and enjoy knowing that he steals workers sweat and blood, and when they age they cannot get their pensions or medical benefits? I sometimes wonder how they can look themselves in the mirror in the morning and how they sleep. They have to be most shamefaced as the Trinidadians say. We call it ‘barefaced’ in Guyana.
We have seen how some powerful Guyanese entrepreneurs physically assault the NIS Inspectors and never get charged. Employers must never feel so bold that they can beat the enforcers of laws and escape the law. No government must ever allow this. This is a dangerous thing. Then we know of corruption within the NIS and tax departments. But we have seen how the Commissioner-General deals with his corrupted officers. I always applaud him for this. NIS needs to do likewise.
This laxity in prosecution and carelessness in record-keeping of NIS information existed since the Burnhamite era, and ashamedly trickled down to this Dawn of the New Era. No industry must be allowed to defraud the state of its revenues and the peoples of this country of their benefits. It is vicious, wicked, and most evil to virtually eat the flesh of ones employees by stealing their NIS contributions of the employee. How can a government ever allow this? If they are in trouble because of negligence, then they deserve it.
As a citizen of this country I speak, and I speak the truth, if anyone is annoyed for this letter and its tone, then fine, as this is a vexatious and principled issue, and I make no apologies for the tone of my message to the nation. I am very emotional over this issue because I am involved with the Guyana Islamic Forum and the Masjid Al-Munawar, where we feed over 1200 people three or four times weekly with nutritious and delicious meals, inclusive of the Palms, the street people, the children’s drop-in centre and the Dharm Shala. I listen to their miseries, their pains and how their employers never paid their NIS , or they had to leave the home as they could not contribute, and many develop mental health issues. The government tries to house and feed them, provide medicine and hygiene in fairness, but if the NIS were paid to deserving people, it would not have such a major problem in the country.
I know of an occasion of a sweet gentleman, who served with us for a few years, later left our company, fell ill and was hospitalised with serious diabetes. His right leg was amputated, and he was discharged. He came straight to my office from the hospital, bleeding from the stump above his knee near the groin, crying and screaming for help as he had no relative, and hugging me as he laid on the ground in my office crying that he regretted serving a security service in Hadfield Street for over a decade, another in Charlotte and King Streets, and one in Lamaha Street, and that only RK’s paid his contributions: ‘Mr. Khan, De thief my life, dey thief me contributions, they make me a street beggar, only you Sir paid for my NIS and I can only get a small grant.” I sent him home with a company vehicle and some cash from my pocket. For such misery and terror I hold the NIS management, their corrupted officers (they were worse during the Burnhamite era in corruption). None in government should excuse themselves. They should accept and try to save the scheme, admit their shortcomings and move on.
I hope this letter causes the government of the day to move with serious dynamism with what I consider a serious disease in the NIS . Send them to jail and seize their properties.
