When Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley signalled on a talk show recently that he had knowledge of life-changing and life-impacting problems for citizens existing at the National Insurance Board (NIB), he gave a measure of immediate comfort and assurance to thousands of people affected by NIS incompetence and indifference.
Affected citizens seeking immediate National Insurance relief from total confusion in that place cannot meet new levels of basic purchases on comfort on future promises alone. We are asking the Prime Minister to deal urgently with pervasive mismanagement at the NIB including repetitive losses of customers' documents in the absence of a tracking system or any system inspired by human resource competencies.
Nor can the affected class of vulnerable citizen totally and daily rely on the honesty and transparency of local retailers not to hurt their significantly reduced personal budgets at the marketplace, where these very same retailers are actively and detrimentally experimenting on the system of newly decreased VAT rated items.
Our Prime Minister should and ought to know the reason no action on the part of affected citizens against retailers has been brought before the courts at this time is that documentary evidence needed by the courts, located in receipts of purchased goods and services, are either non existent, hidden or vague at best.
Are our consumer protection laws up to date? Where do state consumer protections really lie? If they exist at all, who are state consumer advocates really protecting? Are advocates properly trained to an international level of consumer advocacy and has the Prime Minister, in his current or previous incarnation, led any charge to strengthen and modernise local consumer rights? We think not.
I'm afraid the Prime Minister slipped when he advocated or implied the customer should take his customer complaint to the courts when our legislators and laws have been found wanting.
Kathleen Pinder