Within recent days, several pensioners have expressed their frustration over their inability to successfully uplift their old age pensions from Post Offices.
The pensioners, who asked not to be named, indicated that on multiple occasions they attempted to collect their pensions, only to be disappointed.
One pensioner indicated that on the first of the month, the official day for the distribution of the old age benefit, she visited the Kitty Post Office to uplift her money but was told that there was no money there for her to collect and that she would have to come back at a later date. She stated that when she returned at a subsequent date, she was again turned away because there was no money there for her.
Dizzy and frustrated, she fell down on the road one corner away from the post office and sustained bruises. She had to be assisted by a member of the public to return home.
As it relates to the Campbellville Post Office, another pensioner related her ordeal of having visited the post office multiple times but being unsuccessful in receiving her money. The pensioner related that she knows “there is usually a rush on the first of the month,” and as such waits a few days before she goes in, because “I usually want to give the older people a chance to collect their money first.”
However, when she finally turned up to collect her pension she was told that there was no money and that she would have to come back. She stated that this had happened at least once before so although she was disappointed she did not make a big deal of it. Her disappointment was compounded however when she turned up at the post office for the second time only to be told that she would have to come back at a later date. If this was not bad enough, she said that when she went back for the third time she was told that there still was not any money for her to collect. Obviously angry, the pensioner related disdain at the situation, stating that each time they visit the post office they require a taxi which costs three hundred ($300) to four hundred ($400) dollars and then another $300 or $400 to get back home as there is some difficulty walking.
Upon visiting these locations to verify the claims made, the Post Mistress of the Kitty Post Office told Stabroek News that she was not aware of any such cases, after which she stated that any further inquiries would have to be made to acting Post Mistress General Anastacia Alleyne. Efforts to contact The Post Mistress General proved futile.
When Stabroek News visited the Campbellville Post Office, Mr. R Johnson, Post Master for that branch, admitted that delays do occur, but stated that there are several reasons that contribute to this inconvenience.
The first impediment singled out is the new way in which pensions are handed out. According to Johnson, in previous years each post office was responsible for the distribution of pensions exclusively to persons from their respective districts, as such, it was much easier to manage the distribution since each post office would know how many pensioners reside in their district and make requests for the corresponding sums of cash. However, since policies changed to allow any pensioner to collect from any post office “it has become harder to cater to all of the requests being made.” He also explained that in addition to old age pension, National Insurance Scheme (NIS) Pensions are paid out by Post Offices on the first Monday of every month. Johnson stated that ever so often a clash occurs and both NIS and Old Age Pension have to be paid out simultaneously which puts additional strain on the Post Office since they are usually given a fixed amount of money to disburse for both schemes. He related that whenever money available for pension runs low he would make requests for additional funds, but since he does not control when it comes would have to wait until it is sent. This leads to a situation where pensioners would turn up for their money only to be told they have to return at a later date.
The Post Master said that he agreed that such a scenario does inconvenience the elderly, and that he sympathizes with them. To remedy this inefficiency he recommended that the post office return to the system where each post office was just responsible for the pensioners in its district. He said that if this is done, then each post office, being aware of the amount of pensioners that they have to cater for would be able to request the necessary funds and would therefore be able to satisfy their claims without incident. (Chevy Devonish)
