A pensioner who was declared ‘dead’ by officials of the National Insurance Scheme [N.I.S] is still alive and well, and says that five months’ benefits are due to him.
Shabeer Khan, of Lima, Essequibo Coast, told this newspaper that he started receiving his N.I.S pension in 1993 after his retirement from Caricom Rice Mills at Anna Regina.
He said that he migrated to Canada and continued to receive his pension until October last year. His daughter uplifted the money while he was overseas.
Khan said that he returned to Guyana on November 19, last, and took his life certificate to the N.I.S office at Anna Regina. He was then told that he was officially dead since 2004 and was no longer entitled to any benefits.
“How can that be?” he asked, ‘Here I am, alive and well.’

He said the officials at the office advised him to check with the office in Georgetown, but before that, he had to produce copies of his passport, birth certificate and his wife’s death certificate. He was also asked to sign a new life certificate. When he went to Georgetown , Khan said that he was unable to make contact with the senior managers, but a secretary told him to send a document detailing his problem.
He did so but, to date, no one from the N.I.S office has contacted him.
“How can they say that I have been dead since 2004 and I received payments until October 2008?”
Khan is convinced that some administrative blunder is the cause of his problem, and he is asking the relevant authorities to investigate his case.