My goodness! Bank of Nova Scotia again

Apr 26, 2022 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

Kaieteur News – The next few lines you are not going to believe. Here is what happened. I remember it well. I will always remember it once Guyana remains an un-modern country.
I spent about 20 minutes trying to get a telephone call through to the Robb Street branch of the Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS). At one time in my continuous efforts, a voice came on the phone and the lady identified herself from the call centre in Antigua.
To get on to a local bank, someone came on the line from Antigua. I never got through. I remember writing about this incident a few years back. I have written several columns over a 15-year period about how commercial banks treat low-income people. Now, mind you, not people in general but low-income people. They do not hassle wealthy folks for a reason that is so simple that if you do not understand it then you are simply a moron.
The high officials at the banks know the wealthy folks so when a rich Guyanese gives the mechanic a cheque, the mechanic will cash it right away because the rich guy is going to telephone one of the big bigwigs at the bank and say: “Ah just give a man named David Bush, my mechanic, a cheque. Cash it for him.” When the poor grass cutter gets a cheque, he has to produce two pieces of identification, TIN, and proof of address to cash his cheque. This is how the poorer classes are treated in this country the past 30 years by the commercial banks.
Here is a story I mentioned in one of my columns. Given the context of this article here, I am writing it again. I wrote a letter to a certain very powerful person at the GRA. I wrote again after not getting a reply. I could not get through to his secretary. I had his cell number. I made about six calls. I never got a response.
Here is what happened right in my presence. An employee of a businessman called his boss to say he was being hassled by a GRA officer on the wharf. The business told him to stay on the line. The businessman used another phone and called this big wig. The matter was resolved there and then. Why was I slighted? The GRA powerhouse simply said to himself – “let him write what he wants, I don’t care.” On the other hand, the wealthy businessman is a person of substance in Guyana.
This is the way commercial banks treat low-income folks in this country. I get heart-breaking stories about these banks. And you never see or hear these civil society groups discussing it on television talk shows or Zoom discussion programmes. Here once more is yet another sad episode of how ordinary people are treated in their own country.
This lady came up to me in the National Park on Thursday morning. She had a sad story to describe. She got a house lot from the Housing Ministry. She borrowed $25M from BNS to build her house. She carried on a small furniture business at her home. The husband suffered a stroke that rendered him completely incapacitated. She had a new full-time job – to take care of him plus two small children.
She defaulted on her loan payments, BNS legally levied on her. As it stands, she has no place to live. She said her father is willing to build a small place if she can secure a house lot. She asked for my help. They say in life, “nothing ventured, nothing gained.” Housing Minister, Collin Croal is someone I knew when he was in short-pants. He never fails to respond to me. I called him. He agreed to see the lady.
Minister Croal’s curiosity was in order. He wanted to see something from the bank that confirms that the bank took her property. Do you know what BNS told this helpless woman? The ministry has to write the bank. First that is improper and out of protocol. Secondly, it is none of the ministry’s business to do what the bank should do – give the lady the information. Thirdly, the ministry is too busy for that kind of external endeavours.
I intervened and simply told Ms. Farah Budram of BNS that the proper thing is for the bank to give the lady a factual letter, no matter how restricted or tiny the content is even if the lady has to pay for it. The ministry wants to see such a letter. Yesterday the lady got from BNS what she was rightfully due. Someone please help the poor and powerless of this land!
(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)

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