SECONDED cane harvesters attached to Albion Estate are peeved over several issues which include an alleged new demand by the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) to have eye witnesses support accident claimants.

In addition, concerns over health safety, severance pay, and poor access to canefields were raised, on Monday morning, during a protest exercise at Betsy Ground, East Canje, a few villages away  from the soon-to-be-reopened Rose Hall Estate, where they previously worked.

According to 15 B Gang representative, Basher Khalil, workers, involved in accidents are required to submit claim, along with relevant documentation inclusive of the report by their supervisors and medical certificate with a doctor’s signature affixed to the local branch of NIS.

But NIS, in turn, is asking for an eyewitness to visit the respective office in order to have a statement to further support the claimant.

The cost incurred to facilitate the eyewitness’ journey to NIS, which includes a day’s pay, a meal and transportation, must be borne by the claimant and that cost will not be reimbursed by NIS, a situation considered burdensome by the workers.

One of the protesters, Haridall Sookraj, told the Guyana Chronicle that following an accident last April, he complied with the demands of NIS, but his claim is yet to be processed. He said when he inquires, he is often greeted with several excuses including his cheque is not ready.

Since then, he sustained further injuries after he fell off a punt during a collision. And, although the claim had been submitted, it cannot be processed because he could not afford to pay the cost for the eyewitness

“It’s not right what NIS is doing. They need to have their inspectors on the ground to investigate. The detailed reports were submitted by the superintendents… why they cannot work with that,” he questioned.

This newspaper was reliably informed that GuySuCo would make weekly deductions of contributions from employees’ wages for NIS contributions, but the monies are not forwarded in a timely manner, hence the delay in payments.

Estate Manager, Shiv Prashad, told the Guyana Chronicle that management has met with the representatives of the aggrieved workers and reminded of its open-door policy to address their concerns. According to him, NIS was informed of the challenges encountered and same was addressed. However, he was unaware that other workers were affected. He said a follow-up correspondence will be sent to NIS.
With respect to severance pay, the workers, Prashad said were transferred to Albion Estate and that issue will have to be addressed by management.