Got my NIS benefits at last, thank you Observer!
New York, USA — A former government employee, Hyacinth Davis, who has spent more than a decade fighting to secure her National Insurance (NIS) pension benefits, is reporting that her ordeal has finally ended, following a Jamaica Observer article which she has credited for helping to resolve the issue.
Davis was employed to the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) as a teacher at the Lower Esher Juvenile Correctional facility for girls in St Mary, and later as an assistant superintendent from 1982 to 1988.
Her plight was due to the failure of the department in paying over her National Housing Trust (NHT) and NIS contributions over the years, she told the Observer in an interview last year.
Davis said that over the years she had faced “one obstacle after another”, as the DCS continuously insisted that her file could not be located.
Despite several visits from her home in the United States where she has been residing since leaving the government service in 1988; written communication; phone calls and efforts on the part of former colleagues, it was not until the Observer published her story in April of last year that “the issue began to receive some real attention”, said Davis.
She noted that while she faced a similar situation at the Ministry of Education, where she was employed before joining the DCS, she had no problem obtaining the records of her NIS and NHT contributions.
Davis noted that on several occasions she felt she would lose her benefits as her efforts to secure them were seemingly going nowhere.
While it took almost a full year after publication for the issue to be resolved, Davis said, she understood the situation as it meant a lot of time had to be spent going over the details and changes in the system over the years.
“I am grateful the ordeal is over and I am very grateful to the Jamaica Observer, for assisting me,” she said, and commended those at the NIS office in Kingston who were responsible for working to bring the matter to a successful conclusion.
Related story: Former gov’t employee in 10-year battle for NHT, NIS benefits
