Questions for board of directors of NIS

Tue Mar 10, 2015

Editor: As a proud contributor to the National Insurance Services (NIS), I am concerned. The person who is responsible for making me a member of the NIS is Mrs Jennifer Eustace, who is the wife of the Opposition Leader Arnhim Eustace.{{more}}

Mr Eustace is concerned about the financial status of the NIS. We have to take into consideration that he is a politician and while he speaks on things and events, we should pay close attention to the matters he talks about, because he is the one who hopes to become the Prime Minister.

Mr Eustace makes a special effort to inform Vincentians about the importance of the NIS and why we should pay close attention to the direction it is heading, in terms of investments. It’s understandable that the NIS has an investment portfolio and should invest money to strengthen the financial capacity of the NIS, but Vincentians should be concerned about the investments that are being made by the NIS.

We are hearing that the National Lotteries Authority is on the verge of borrowing 6.5 million dollars from the National Insurance Services for certain projects.

I went to the NIS to inquire about the matter and I was told to ask the executive director, Mr Reginald Thomas. He told me to ask the members of the board of directors.

So, here are my questions for the NIS and the members of its board of directors:

1. Should Vincentians be worried about the financial status of the NIS?

2. Is the NIS being pressured to invest?

3. What other investments are being made?

4. What is being done to ensure the survival of the NIS?

Should we blame the executive director, the board of directors or the Prime Minister? It is being said that the NIS has a lot of money, so one should not worry; but that doesn’t mean we have to abuse it.

The Prime Minister, while answering a question about the 6.5 million dollar loan from the NIS to the National Lottery Authority, suggested that Mr Eustace wants to deny Vincentians playing fields and advancements in the sporting arena. Why does the Prime Minister engage in naive politics? The NIS money is the poor people money and we should be informed when the money is being invested. If for some reason the Prime Minister doesn’t like my writing, don’t blame me because it’s because there is a lack of information from the NIS. The change of the name is good, but the concept is still the same.

Kingsley DeFreitas