Hinkson’s ‘sorry’ for post office cheque-cashing fiasco

The Minister of Home Affairs has apologized for two chaotic days of delays and long queues at post offices as thousands sought to redeem National Insurance Scheme pension and benefit cheques.

But Edmund Hinkson has also showered praise on postal workers for what he termed their extraordinary efforts to serve those who turned up at the 16 post offices across the island on Wednesday and Thursday last week.

Hinkson told Barbados TODAY that about 10,000 pensioners and beneficiaries of welfare, unemployment, maternity leave and sick leave cheques used the post offices to cash them.

“This was an unprecedented situation for most of these postal employees to have to deal with. The banks, credit unions, supermarkets and other businesses which would normally have been available to cash these cheques, were of course closed as a result of the curfew,” the MP for St James North said.

He noted that Prime Minister Mia Mottley had instructed that not only those pension and welfare cheques due last week, but also those due during the fourth week of this month, would be issued and were to be paid last week to these NIS beneficiaries.

He said: “This meant that postal workers additionally had to pay cash for two cheques in a case where they would in normal circumstances only be handing cash for one.

“This had implications for the flow of funds transferred to the various post offices and resulted in a delay in some instances. For this, I as Home Affairs Minister, express regret at the long waiting time experienced by many of our senior citizens in the hot sun before they were served.”

Hinkson, however, recalled that tents were erected at some post offices in an attempt to shelter some of those who had to wait a long time.

He added: “I am told that customers with disabilities and physical challenges as well as those who were clearly not feeling well were generally given priority. In all of this, it needs to be considered that postal clerks also have to practice social distancing from each other at the counter.”

The Home Affairs Minister said this meant that at many post offices, only two or three postal workers, including in some cases the postmaster, could serve at the counter.

He reminded Barbadians that the postal services also lost staff to Government’s job cuts a year and a half ago.

“This has made its service deliveries more challenging at most of its post offices. However, some senior postal officers came to the fore last week and assisted in serving the customers. Some clerks who were on official vacation voluntarily came back to work to help,” he said. .

The Minister said some postal workers even assisted by taking the cash to pensioners and people with disabilities after their cheques were endorsed.

Hinkson said: “After I issued instructions that no post office was to close until every last customer was served last Thursday, some employees worked until 6 p.m. -7 p.m. to ensure that all customers received their funds.

“Postal employees are front line workers in our country, especially at this time of the challenge of COVID-19.

“They deserve our support and commendation, along of course, with the health care and service providers, police and defence forces, Government security guards, other employees throughout my ministry and all of the essential services employees working together to assist in confronting and ultimately overcoming this global health pandemic.”

emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb