A section of the audience at yesterday's opening ceremony of the 28th CARICOM Heads of Social Security Meeting.
The Minister responsible for the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) says there is a need to develop a strategic plan for the NIS going forward.
Minister of Labour, Social Security and Human Resource Development, Senator Dr. Esther Byer Suckoo noted that such a plan would, for example, help to restructure the administration of the Scheme to better address some of the concerns of their clients.
She was speaking yesterday morning at the opening of the 28th CARICOM Heads of Social Security Meeting at the Crane Resort.
Her comments came as she pointed out that there is still progress to be achieved in various aspects of the NIS’ operations. She made the point while reflecting on the improvements made to the information technology (IT) system, explaining that in spite of heavy investments made in that system a few years ago, there remains a heavy backlog of claims to be settled.
“The NIS has also fallen behind in its legal and fiduciary responsibility to produce financial statements and annual reports. And as I said before, this lack of up-to-date information creates a void in which anxiety settles and leads to panic. In Barbados this scenario, along with delays when the new IT system was being introduced, heavy withdrawals on the Unemployment Fund during our period of highest unemployment in the recession, and the pension reform because of an ageing population, which saw the pensionable age increase gradually over the last decade, all of these together have created questions and concerns which the NIS now has the unenviable task of clearing up,” she stated.
Minister Byer Suckoo added that even though most of these problems have been rectified and others are being addressed, the public is still nervous and unfortunately, she said, any little glitch has the potential to create panic. This, the Minister contended, highlights the need to rebuild trust and she is adamant that such can only be achieved through greater accountability, transparency and communication.
“This is the basis for the new strategic vision; one which I know will be welcomed by our public… It is imperative for the societies to trust the system, especially when measures for sustainability must include contributions from those sectors which have not yet been properly captured, such as the informal sector and the self employed artisans, vendors, doctors and lawyers,” she indicated.
The Minister’s remarks came as she said that Barbados is examining options to encourage contributions from these non-salaried earners who, because of the demands of such enterprises, may not be able to commit to making contributions on a monthly or quarterly basis. With that in mind, she maintained that they should utilise the opportunity provided by the meeting to develop a serious strategy for increasing the level of coverage of such persons. She bolstered the need for such a strategy as she noted that those persons often realise too late, particularly in their less productive years, that they need the National Insurance Scheme. To that end, she said special attention should be paid to educate populations across the region about the importance of being covered. (JRT)
