Ministry urges bank to replace defective Christmas food cards

The Ministry of Social Development and Family Services is calling on Members of Parliament to make arrangements to have defective Christmas food cards returned so they could be replaced.

In a release on Friday, three days before Christmas, the ministry said there were still technical problems with the cards.

The issue was highlighted by St Augustine MP Khadijah Ameen and Pointe-a-Pierre MP David Lee at a press briefing in Chaguanas on Wednesday.

They complained about a delay in receiving the cards to distribute to their constituents, and said some constituents were then inconvenienced and embarrassed at supermarkets when, at check-out, they were told the cards were invalid or not active.

Annually, the ministry issued 200 foods cards worth $550 each to the 41 MPs to distribute at Christmas to needy families in their constituencies.

The release said the ministry requested that First Citizens Bank (FCB) conduct thorough technical checks on all cards to remove errors, and that defective cards be replaced by the bank in the shortest possible time.

“The Ministry of Social Development and Family Services assures that all attempts will be made to have this problem rectified in a manner where clients will be able to conduct business, free of error and inconvenience, at all authorised merchant outlets.”

In a previous release, the ministry said FCB had been notified of the issue and was “testing solutions to ensure full access is afforded to cardholders throughout TT.”

The ministry apologised for the inconvenience caused adding the situation was beyond its control.