Rohani Singh was thankful to Government when she started receiving two pension cheques a month from February. Unable to read or write, Singh, 70, thought the money represented the national budget increase in pension she had heard about. The cheques were all made out in her name.

To her horror, however, her December cheques were seized and she was summoned to the Social Services Division offices at Rio Claro last week and ordered to repay $10,000. 

Unable to pay the sum, Singh offered to repay the money a little each month. Social Services officers, however, wanted the money in a lump-sum or they planned to take $1,000 from her monthly cheque and give her $50 to survive on each month. "It would be hard for me to live on $50 a month. I have children but they are not wealthy, I cannot depend on them for everything," she said. 

Singh received another telephone call from an employee at the Social Services Division, Rio Claro on Thursday, telling her to go and change the cheque immediately. "She told me to come into the office right now to change the December cheque and they would give me $600. I cannot read or write so I did not want to go and do anything just like that, so I told them I could not make it today. I want this to be legal because it was not my mistake. I agree that I have to pay them back but I want to be sure that the money is accounted for," Singh told the Daily Express.

Singh, of Union Village, Mayaro insisted that she was not aware of what was happening. "The government announced that the old age pension was being increased in the budget so I thought the extra cheque was the additional amount we had to get," she said. Singh used the extra money to renovate her home, care for her ailing son and buy groceries. She would cash one cheque at the neighbourhood supermarket and the other at the bank. "I used one to buy groceries and the other to fix my house. My son got into an accident and I helped him so that was where I spend all my money," she said. Singh said after the officers explained to her that she should not have received two cheques, she agreed to repay the debt a little every month. 

"When they told me what had happened I knew I had to pay the money, so I did not hesitate. But when they told me I have to pay in cash I told them that I had no savings," she said. The Daily Express made several calls last week to the Social Services Division head office but was told that no one was available to comment on the matter. 

The director of the division was said to be in a meeting all day. An unidentified official at the head office, however, said she could not recall any similar incidents. "I have been here for a while and I cannot remember any incidents like this one. It was a grave error and it needs to be corrected. I don't know what procedure would be taken to recover the money, but whenever any arrangements are made for the woman to pay the money, she must insist on a receipt," the official said.