Techiman (B/A) July 19, GNA - Mr. Amos Donkor, Sunyani area accountant of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) has said the huge

indebtedness of private establishments across the country posed a serious threat to the operations of the Trust and would have negative repercussions on their

employees. Mr. Donkor was addressing more than 200 employers drawn from Techiman

municipality, Kintampo and Nkoranza districts at a workshop at Techiman. The workshop, under the theme; "the role of employers under the SSNIT

Employer Member Account Reconciliation (EMAR) system", was aimed at

educating employers on the need for them to update their records with the Trust by

paying the contributions of their employees regularly and promptly. Mr. Donkor expressed concern about the delay of employers in paying their

workers' contributions to the Trust, saying the practice did not allow employees to

benefit from the National Health Insurance Scheme. He stressed the need for employers to make prompt and regular payments of

workers' contributions to enable them to access the benefits and warned that it was

illegal for them to withhold such contributions. Mr. Collins Opoku, Techiman branch manager, explained that the EMAR system was an in-house application mechanism developed by SSNIT to estimate

employers' indebtedness at the end of every month and to prompt them to settle

their debts appropriately. 19 July 08