Cancer survivor, 60, faces eviction as NIS payments delayed

A 60-year-old breast cancer survivor from Fyzabad is on the verge of being evicted from her apartment, as she is yet to begin receiving her National Insurance (NIS) payments.

Annmarie Moore, of Pepper Village, Fyzabad, was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007.

Doctors told her it had already reached stage four and required swift action, so she had a mastectomy on her right breast.

Life has been challenging since then, she told Newsday. And recently, she began having the same types of pain she had before her initial diagnosis, in her left breast.

She stopped working in May since she could not bear the pain anymore. She was a caretaker.

She said she is waiting for clinics to resume so she can have the relevant tests, having already visited the radiology department at the San Fernando General Hospital.

She signed up for retirement benefits on January 27, but said she has not been contacted since.

She usually paid $1,700 a month in rent and her landlord, to whom she said she is very thankful, has given her a “bligh” for the past three months, but can't continue to do so.

“I can’t work any more because my body is weak," she said. "NIS is the only thing I have to depend on. “There are people that signed up the same time with me and already got through.”

Her 61st birthday is on August 23 and she said she fears she’ll have to spend that day on the streets.

She said a former employer recently bought groceries for her, and if not for that person, “I wouldn’t have anything to eat.”

Before living in Fyzabad, she said, she lived in Oropouche with a relative who was abusive.

“I made so many reports to the police station. I couldn’t take it, so I had to leave.

“These past months have been really tough…Once I start to get my payments, I will be able to pay rent. I know it wouldn’t be a lot, but it would be enough.

“This is too much,” she said as she burst into tears.

If she is unable to pay her rent by Saturday, she will be evicted.

Her landlord, Leroy Chase, told Newsday this is the second such incident that has happened in his five-plus years of doing this type of work.

He recalled a similar incident in which officials only called him six month after the tenant had already moved out.

"She was expecting (NIS payments) 90 days after the day she signed up in January. I remember she was counting down these days, because she knew exactly what day to expect it. But then one month went, two months, then three months...

"I don't believe it should be taking so long to get what's hers. It's not a favour they're doing, it's money owed to her.

"She is in dire need and she has medical problems also, so the stress wouldn't help her."

Anyone who wishes to contact Morre can call 734-8382.