The Leader of Opposition Matthew Wale condemns the Solomon Islands National Provident Fund (SINPF) and the government on the manner the approved emergency payments for members is being handled.
Over the last few days, members flooded the NPF office and on being directed to follow the normal process for making withdrawals, members are now forced to join long ques at the Magistrates Court, the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and other places where Commissioners for oath are stationed, to get their forms endorsed.
“The process adopted by NPF is contrary to the emergency measures put in place to prevent people from congregating in huge numbers and keeping the distance of 1.5 meters apart. The measures are important to prevent the potential spread of the coronavirus and so should never be compromised.
“NPF has all the necessary information on its members and in this emergency situation, it is extremely important that face to face meetings and large gatherings of people are avoided. This is a very serious health risk and so I call on NPF to modernise its system to electronically deal with the emergency withdrawals.
“It is high time that all government ministries and institutions including NPF, start seriously looking into using the online platform which does not require face to face meetings,” the Opposition Leader added.
“I also call on the Minister of Finance and Treasury to consider extending the assistance to all NPF members regardless of the restrictions on age and employment status. If NPF is serious about assisting members in these trying times, it must treat every member equal and not impose restrictions as they are doing,” stressed Mr. Wale.
– Opposition Press
