The Prime Minister has been accused of being dishonest and irresponsible with the funds in the National Insurance Scheme (NIS).
The accusation was made against him last night by Couva South MP, Rudy Indarsingh, during the UNC’s virtual Budget Facts meeting.
Indarsingh said: “The PM has to be brass-faced to come to tell the country that the fund is close to bankruptcy. Because of their dishonesty, irresponsibility, elitist and intellectually bankrupt approach as it relates to dealing with the NIS.
“The government promised job creation, diversification and economic growth, but the reality and the facts are, unemployment figures pushed way to over 100,000 with the onset of covid19. Workers are no longer contributing to the fund and also small and medium business were not contributing.”
Indarsingh warned that the worker population would ultimately pay for the inaction of the PNM.
He also called on the Finance Minister to explain the shortfalls of raising the retirement age.
This after Colm Imbert, during the Budget presentation on October 5th, stated that NIS payout of benefits had surpassed contributions and that review was needed. Imbert also proposed that the retirement age be increased from 60 to 65 over time.
COMMENTS