Even as you’re encouraged to take the appropriate routes for addressing your complaints, the Guardian Angel is here to assist you. You can send the Guardian Angel an e-mail about your problem and what steps you took to deal with the matter. The Guardian Angel looks forward to hearing from you and bringing some relief to your problems.
E-mail her at angel@guardian.co.tt
Please include your name, address and telephone number as we’ll need them to follow up with you. Unfortunately, owing to the volume of e-mails and limited space, it is impossible to address every complaint, no matter how worthy, or acknowledge receipt of every e-mail.
Each week, the Guardian Angel column highlights complaints sent in by you, the consumer, and provides solutions or directs you to the appropriate resource.
Problem: Dhanmatie Mahabir of Stalin Street, Dow Village, California, has not received her (social welfare) pension cheque for January 2013. Her brother Ranjit Sinanan, who wrote in on her behalf, said, “The cheque was sent to FCB, Couva, but was sent back by the bank to the Ministry of the People, stating that the account was a joint one and as such the cheque could not be deposited. “Since then she has been visiting the welfare office in Chaguanas, made several calls to the ministry’s office, but still no cheque.”
Solution: Ms Mahabir’s complaint was relayed to the Ministry of the People and Social Development. The ministry said funds were deposited to joint accounts once the client was the primary holder. The ministry will be sending a letter to FCB to request the funds, as they were initially returned to the wrong department by the bank, so that Ms Mahabir could receive her pension.
People with these types of problems are advised to go into the ministry’s head office at 55-57 St Vincent Street, Port-of-Spain, or call 623-6142, as only the head office can rectify such matters.