National Insurance Board Responds To Public Concern

Posted on October 16, 2011 by David | 204 Comments

Click to read Press Release Issued by National Insurance Board in response to rising public concern about the management of NIS funds

This entry was posted in Barbados, Barbados News, Blogging and tagged National Insurance Board, National Insurance Scheme, Tony Marshall. Bookmark the permalink.

204 Responses to National Insurance Board Responds To Public Concern

islandgal246 | October 20, 2011 at 11:44 PM |

Hants | October 20, 2011 at 7:20 PM |
When the economy is “booming” and people lining duh pockets nuhbody looking fuh moral leadership.

Hantsie yuh got muh laughning and yuh right too. So pass de bay rum fuh muh dat is all I cud afford to bade muh headache . But dem did blaming de Guyanese, when yuh boy David got in he promised to gets the rid of dem and he dd. He exported nuff ah dem. So who dey gine blame now? De party in power of course LOLLLLL
islandgal246 | October 20, 2011 at 11:45 PM |

Hantsie …Pass de Mountain dew too!
balance | October 21, 2011 at 6:21 AM |

nothing is perfect but even if justice is not done bevause of unaviodable imperfections and the human species being what it is- the procedures in place should be such that justice must be seen to have been done. there will always be corruption so that is not the main issue ac; the main issue is about governance and if we can develop something which offers relevant governance and which can bring back that trust in the sysyem of governance then it might change the mindset of the youth for example who see what we have practicing as governance to be a hoax. iimagine a judge sentencing a man heavily for the use of cocaine and you go in his chambers after sentencing and see him snorting. that is the negative perception the youth of tomorrow have of the system and they have reason not to care or show respect because they are taught anything goes. but back to the point, in the new dispensation, there is little need for patronage so they will not have to skew their reporting to satisfy any particular interest. remember, there will be no political party to fear. and ac, the chairman will be a chairman and will only have one vote in the vaffairs of the particular comittee he heads.
balance | October 21, 2011 at 6:26 AM |

ac- parliamentarians would be selected from their constituencies even you will have the opportunity to go up the steps of parliament if you are nominated or run as an independent and is elected by the constituency.
enuff | October 21, 2011 at 8:42 AM |

@ balance
The reality is WE are all political, and in my humble opinion I see nothing wrong with having pro-DLP, pro-BLP and anti-DLP&BLP moderators/columnists. Robust debate of ‘opposing’ views is good for our society! Problems arise when these individuals pretend to be apolitical; and also when there is no access to alternative views within the same medium as is the case with CBC tv.
Ping Pong | October 21, 2011 at 10:08 AM |

In the last week, newspapers report that the government has made two assaults on the concept of the citizen’s right to property. The first assault was the attempt to pass the Antiquities Bill and the second, the declaration to compulsory acquire the land of one person so as to benefit another citizen. The situation with the Antiquities Bill is extremely disturbing. The Senate raised many cogent questions about the bill which were accepted by the Government senators. It strikes me odd that Minister Lashley, who is an attorney, could not recognise the constitutional issues raised by Senator Newton and neither could any of the other 29 MP’s (i.e.both BLP and DLP) when the bill was passed in the lower house. That the bill (in identical form) was first presented by the previous BLP administration is testimony to the lack of any philosophical mooring by BOTH political parties to defend and act in accordance with the Constitution or any other publicly stated set of values in the interest of the common good other than expediency,appeal to the lowest denominator and laziness.

To reinforce my disquiet, today’s newspapers report that the Government intends to compulsory acquire part of the property of one individual to make available to another private interest. This is an unsettling use of the State’s power to compulsory acquire property. To my knowledge, such power has been exercised to the direct benefit of the public i.e to allow the building of a school, heath centre, police station, roads, public housing etc. That this power is now to be exercised to the benefit of a privately operated company is a most curious development.

However, laudable the intentions, the words “thin edge of the wedge” comes to mind.
millertheanunnaki | October 21, 2011 at 11:14 AM |

@ Ping Pong:
“It strikes me odd that Minister Lashley, who is an attorney, could not recognise the constitutional issues raised by Senator Newton and neither could any of the other 29 MP’s (i.e.both BLP and DLP) when the bill was passed in the lower house.”

Your statement is not entirely true! If you had listened carefully to the debates you would heard Ms M.A. Mottley in her contribution raising concerns about the constitutional implications of the bill in its current reading. She also expressed concern about the “mechanics” of certain aspect of the legislation. Queries were raised about the storage and safe custody of the acquired relics and the human and technical resources required to ensure the successful implementation of the provisions and regulations of the legislation.
Caswell Franklyn | October 21, 2011 at 11:48 AM |

David

The comment of Ping Pong at 10: 08 AM is important enough to be a separate Post. I would hate to see the matters raised lost in the NIS post.
David | October 21, 2011 at 12:06 PM |

@Caswell

Will do!
Ping Pong | October 21, 2011 at 12:14 PM |

@Millertheannuki

Thanks for your clarification! However, should I check the record i.e. Hansard, will I find a “NO” vote from Ms Mottley? In any event, the bill was passed in the Lower House and only when the Senate raised objections did the Government see the problems. Minster Stephen Lashley, at the very least, has shown himself not to be a good guardian of our heritage of struggle against heavy handed Government.
millertheanunnaki | October 21, 2011 at 1:17 PM |

@ Ping Pong:
D’accord ! Only goes to show the poor quality of representation we have to put up with. Mediocrity is the flavour of the times in this talk shop!
balance | October 21, 2011 at 2:32 PM |

enuff you are free to support the system if you think it is doing the best for you and the people of barbados . that is your prerogative. for my part, i think the system of our governance is failing us in several ways and largely because of the entrenchment of the belief that there is no other way other than through organised political institutions. i am reading the paper at the moment and when i see in relation to the present debacle going on in st james north that persons are saying that ‘whoever the blp send they supporting’ i must believe that the sacrifices my foreparents made to ensure that we were properly educated has been all in vain. and the same goes for the sycophantic supporters of the other side.even reading the charade masquerading in st james north under the guise of democracy and in the case of mr abed as well, i am at a loss to understand how a seeminglyinteeligent person can continue to throw your support behind such nonsense.
millertheanunnaki | October 21, 2011 at 4:56 PM |

@ enuff
“I am at a loss to understand how a seemingly intelligent person can continue to throw your support behind such nonsense.”

As the old “intelligent” folks would say: Education i not common sense”. Intelligence cannot be acquired through long attendance at a school or university. It is not displayed on the myriad paper qualifications after the names of the pompous. Intelligence is the continuous application of God-given common sense to life’s challenges and unusual situations. There seems to be an inverse relationship between educational attainment levels among Bajans and the manifestation of common sense in their daily affairs of living.
ac | October 21, 2011 at 5:21 PM |

@CH

Ref comment; it is logical to assume they(lawyers) will participate

So why is the public so angered by lawyers?it would be logical to assume that they would be put out to pasture and only called upon “if” need be.
Btw CH in one of my post I queried Bush Tea on the jobs interview by the members and i said that like in any job it depends on who knows who .
In his reply he Told that on the Board was one of his :Best friends” couldn’t help but Laugh .
Christopher Halsall | October 21, 2011 at 5:37 PM |

@ac: “So why is the public so angered by lawyers?

I suspect because the public do not understand the Law.

Even though they should.

And please let us be honest: the public are not actually able to understand the Law partially because the “Barbados Official Gazette” is not publicly available for free (unlike in Canada or the UK or the USA where it is available for free on-line).
millertheanunnaki | October 21, 2011 at 6:27 PM |

@ CH:
The Bajan political cartel and the clergy have more in common than just usage of the title “Minister”. Both controllers of the Bajan psyche are intent of keeping knowledge from the man in the street, lest they lose their power hold. In addition to the Official Gazette, all the laws and regulations of the Land should be made freely available on-line (electronically).
Why ask people to become literate and equip themselves with the modern IT skills (WIFI availability in B’town and talk of making Barbados one really “hot spot”) and then not having work for them to do (figuratively speaking, of course)?
Chickenlikkel | October 21, 2011 at 6:34 PM |

Yes miller, they keeping knowledge from the MAN. Dem too bad. What them saying, Barbados is already a hot spot, we dont need why-fi, we got RI.

And she hotter than hot. She like sweet fire!
Christopher Halsall | October 21, 2011 at 6:35 PM |

@millertheanunnaki: “The Bajan political cartel and the clergy have more in common than just usage of the title “Minister”. Both controllers of the Bajan psyche are intent of keeping knowledge from the man in the street, lest they lose their power hold.

And are we (or, at least, a few of we) not working hard to change this?

Is this why we are working hard on a Friday night?

@MTA: “In addition to the Official Gazette, all the laws and regulations of the Land should be made freely available on-line (electronically).

Completely agree. And, to the best of my knowledge, all Laws are made available on-line as when they were last published.

Except, the Official Gazette is not available on-line. And The Gazette can change the Law.

Hmmmmmmm….
millertheanunnaki | October 21, 2011 at 6:53 PM |

@ CH:
Before you g on your ‘TGIF’ de-stressing session, please tell me how the laws of Barbados can be access on line? I think there was a portal via the Caricom Secretariat website, but it seems that has been closed to the average cyber traveller.
Hants | October 21, 2011 at 6:56 PM |

The debate over the antiquities bill has shown how selfish people can be.

I have not heard one person say that they will take their art collection or a piece of antique furniture to a school.

Will the businessman who takes your money everyday in his establishments be prepared to display his art to the young poor school children whose parents cannot afford to buy a painting or piece of antique furniture?
Christopher Halsall | October 21, 2011 at 6:59 PM |

@MTA: “…please tell me how the laws of Barbados can be access on line?

He’s one example: http://www.telecoms.gov.bb/Documents/telecommunications%20(amendment)%20act%202006-28.pdf

Only five years old…

@MTA:I think there was a portal via the Caricom Secretariat website, but it seems that has been closed to the average cyber traveller.

So what are you saying? Can you answer, or can you not?
balance | October 22, 2011 at 6:26 PM |

as you can see i in letting up on this thing because the system as entrenched cannot be overhauled ; it has to be replaced’ another advantage would be re-establishment of of various public service commissions which were emasculated by the 1974 constitutional amendments which opened the door for yardfowlism and political patronage by placing appointments to some of the most important arms of governance in the hands of the primeminister and by extension his ministers. hence in a short space of time we have had the confidence in the justice system undermined by by the unprincipled and immoral appointment albeit within the ambit of the law of a practising politician as chief justice and in another instance we have witnessed an assault on the constitution to facilitate the correction of an error of incompetence by the powers that be in order that to accomodate the appointment of a chief justice.the statutory boards havre long been used by relevant ministers as vote catching playgrounds at the public’s expense.
Random Thoughts | October 22, 2011 at 7:17 PM |

Quoting Hants “Will the businessman who takes your money everyday in his establishments be prepared to display his art to the young poor school children whose parents cannot afford to buy a painting or piece of antique furniture?”

Up to last weekend there were 2 free art exhibitions that I know of. One at the university and one at Queen’s Park.

All you had to do is catch the bus and walk in the door
BAFBFP | October 22, 2011 at 7:27 PM |

Balance

You better let up. Anybody who effects real change to this patronizing musical chairs charade will be targeted for regime change and people like you and Sarge calling him/her a dictator who will deservingly die by the sword.