Over 1,000 SSNIT biometric cards abandoned

A total of 1,149 Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) Biometric Cards are gathering dust in the Cape Coast Branch Office of SSNIT because their respective owners have failed to collect them.

Some of these cards, belonging to both active and retired workers, were issued in April last year when the nationwide Biometric Registration Exercise began.

The Branch Manager, Mr. Alex Appiah, who disclosed this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, said the branch had tried to visit various institutions to deliver them to their respective owners but it had not been very successful because some of the owners run shift, while others had retired.

SSNIT, in April last year, began a nationwide exercise to register its members onto a new biometric platform, which aims at enhancing its services especially when members retire.

The Biometric cards are Automated Teller Machine (ATM) Cards but have the pictures and other vital information of its holders on them, with which a holder could access his/her account at SSNIT kiosks to be erected at vantage points all over the country soon.

Mr. Appiah stressed the importance of the cards and entreated all active and retired workers to show the same enthusiasm with which they joined queues and waited patiently during the registration exercise, for the collection of the cards.

He said between January and February this year, 3,572 retired and active workers were registered, adding that, though the current focus of the exercise was to register members who were above age 54, others outside the age category could register.

Mr. Appiah said the branch planned to pitch camp at some districts to register teachers to prevent the situation whereby teachers abandoned their classes to travel to the branch offices to register.

He said the branch would also visit the homes of some retired workers who would not be able to get to their camping sites to register.