Aflao, Feb. 20, GNA - Mr Joy C. Abbey, Ketu District Manager of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) has decried the low SSNIT contributions paid to the Trust by freight forwarders for their employees at Aflao.
He said though the freight forwarders formed over 46 per cent of employers registered with the scheme in the district, the payment of workers' contributions was nothing to write home about. Mr Abbey revealed this at a day's seminar organised by the Trust for members of the Aflao branch of the Association of Freight Forwarders under the theme: "SSNIT Providing Economic Security for the Ghanaian worker and his Dependants in Partnership with the Employer" at Aflao on Thursday.
The seminar was to whip up the interest of employers and employees in the scheme for the realisation of the reasons for the establishment of the Trust by government to ensure a lifetime economic protection for citizens, particularly in times of old age, invalidity and protection of dependants.
Mr Abbey said the reason for the inability of the freight forwarders to pay the contributions was the low salary levels of their employees, saying that the benefits under the Trust as an investment were income related and appealed to the members to consider upgrading the salaries of their employees.
He asked both the employer and the employee to co-operate with the Trust to make the administration of the scheme much easier by providing and upgrading all relevant data at the work place and the Trust. Mr Abbey advised that it was important that every working Ghanaian had some investment even if one was not contributing to the Trust adding, that one's youth time, energy and income level must not deceive them that they could manage themselves in future even without any investment. He asked employers who suffered income fluctuations, which tended to affect their capacity to pay employees' contributions to negotiate with the Trust for a relaxed mode of payment under which they would not pay penalty.
On his perception about the CAP 30 and the SSNIT pension scheme in an interview with the press, Mr Abbey said while SSNIT graduated its benefit to contributors from 50 to 80 per cent, under CAP 30 one retired on his salary but said that the disadvantage of CAP 30 was universal and a contributor could loose all benefits if dismissed for any wrong doing.
