The Tribune

By LETRE SWEETING

lsweeting@tribunemedia.net

“THEY’RE robbing us now,” was the view of some Bahamians as they voiced their opinion on the National Insurance Board’s recommendations to increase the contribution rate - on top of other financial pressures such as rising prices on sugar and salt.

Recently, the NIB’s board of directors recommended to the Cabinet that the contribution rate be increased by between three-quarters of a percentage point and 1.5 percent. The board urged this to be implemented from January 1, 2023, and is now hoping for July 2023 after this deadline was missed.

Kimyllie Forbes, a Bahamian procurement manager, told The Tribune on Friday that while she does not mind paying for her own faults, the government’s issues should be “their problem”.

“We always knew National Insurance was going to be increased because the national budget has been getting dissolved by government for a long time. With that, I knew that National Insurance was going to go up, because now they are having the insight to put back the revenue,” she said.

“But it shouldn’t have come back on our backs, because that was their problem. Because now when I retire there’s no money there for me. When my children retire, there is no money there for them,” Ms Forbes said.

“They’re robbing us now,” she claimed.

“Now salt and sugar is increased because of the pandemic and because our things are imported and we don’t have any factories, like other countries. Those things are going to go up. It isn’t going up because of our government, it’s going up, because it’s nationwide,” Ms Forbes said.

“So we as Bahamians need to buckle down on our spending to economize on what is going on nationwide, we can’t blame the government over that,” she said.

Maxwell Cartwright, who is over 65 years old and unemployed, said he believes following the pandemic food prices should go down, allowing Bahamians to be able to pay additional money to NIB.

“The pandemic is over, right? I feel as if everything should go down. Now, if everything stays the way it stays then the NIB should go up, because how you expect for people to live in these times?” Mr Cartwright asked.

“Every time you go in the food store now, something goes up,” he said.

“I don’t think the price of salt needs to be raised because we have salt right here and we have more than enough of it to sell it dirt cheep in The Bahamas,” Mr Cartwright said.

“(Prime Minister Philip) Davis, he needs to know that people in this town are suffering, they are hurting and they need help in more than one way, because things are really just rising everywhere you turn,” he said.

“What’s happening to the people, we’re not getting any more money and you got to live,” Mr Cartwright said.

Betty Dames, the owner of a local clothing store, shared similar sentiments, calling the rise in NIB contributions “ridiculous” while the price of food is high.

“I think raising NIB, with the rise now of salt and sugar and other things, is ridiculous. You can’t cook without salt, you need sugar and honey for everything, and that’s an everyday thing and some people just can’t afford it,” Ms Dames said.

“I mean the VAT (value added tax) is already high, everything is high. What about the people who aren’t working? Clothes don’t sell everyday, so when you don’t make anything, how are you going to eat?” she asked.

However, other locals believe that the rise in NIB is justified to help take care of senior citizens, who may be suffering later due to the rise in food costs.

Dr Kent Bazard, a medical physician and sports medicine specialist, said NIB should be increased to support those who will require health assistance due to bad eating habits and the rise in food prices.

“Of course there’s an increase in food costs all over the world. I always thought salt was overpriced and it’s crazy that is the case since it’s made here, there definitely should be some reconsideration on that,” Dr Bazard said.

“At the same time, as a health professional, we need to increase our salt and sugar intake. So, maybe this is a chance for us to start to change our palette just a little bit, and try to decrease the instances of these noncommunicable diseases that are ravaging our country,” he said.

“That’s the real reason why NIB contributions need to increase, is because of the health cost in the country and the health cost in the country is directly due to the food that we eat,” Dr Bazard said.

Renville McQuay also supports the possible rise in NIB contributions, but questions why the price of items from bauxite industry are so pricy when most of the items can be found naturally in The Bahamas.

“Now, I don’t have a problem with NIB being raised, because at the end of the day, we retire and the senior citizens need help and that is a form of taking care of the elders,” Mr McQuay said.

“As citizens of this country, we rely on the government for everything. So, this is like going in the salt water, but not wanting to be salty,” he said.

When asked if he thought there should be a rise in the price of salt, he said: “No, but anything from the bauxite industry, which is anything from the earth, or from the ground, what the country harnesses, the citizens never benefit from it. It’s like it’s off limits,” Mr McQuay said.

Last year NIB’s 11th actuarial review recommended the contribution rate be increased with further hikes implemented every two years through to July 1, 2036, to “restore the short and medium-term financial sustainability of the scheme”.

At the time, Mr Davis held off from enacting such an increase to allow businesses and households more time to recover from the pandemic.

After COVID hit in 2020, NIB paid out more than $100m in unemployment benefits to support thousands of Bahamians who were laid off during the health crisis. The number of benefits paid out over the years has left NIB reserves in a state of decline.