By Johnny Coomansingh
Sometimes we are faced with situations that steal from us the little humanity, consideration and trust that we develop over time. Such circumstances include the lies that people tell us to our faces. Apparently, some of these individuals are well trained to be unflinchingly mendacious. In my brain, there is a file labelled ‘Doh Trust Dat.’ A file category like that takes decades to develop. At my age, I read the body language, the facial expressions, the nuances, and the timbre in the voices of people whose business it is to lie.
‘Hiding the truth’ is euphemistically lying. To protect their ‘bottom line,’ many businesses daub their customers and clients with an abundance of falsehoods. White, black, blue, green or red lies are all lies. “The apples are not so bad,” the fruit vendor would oftentimes say. What I actually hear is that the apples are damn bad! A snippet from my poem published in the Delaware Bards Poetry Review (2025) titled: ‘Playing Smart with Stupidity’ gives voice to my assessment of people who cheat and choose to be liars:
“For all the people who think they could con
There is a time coming for each and every one
An account they all must give
Dirty money is all for which they live.
They think they’re smart, but stupid they are
Their conscience they continue to erase, to mar
They hustle and bustle their rotted and putrid goods to sell
Not at all knowing they are heading for a place called hell.”
‘Come back tomorrow’ is a phrase that I have grown accustomed to in Trinidad. In every sector of the private and public service, there is always some ‘cock-and-bull’ story about why I must come back tomorrow. And so, I must relate a come-back-tomorrow experience that I had at the Sangre Grande, branch of the Republic Bank. To express my disgust and disappointment with my bank I wrote a letter to the manager.
Although I know that nothing will come of it, as it always has been in Trinidad, my intention is to forward copies of this letter to the governor of the Central Bank of T&T, the minister of finance and the chief executive officer of Republic Bank Holdings Limited. In the article, ‘Tancoo: I only get US$200 to travel,’ written by Andrea Perez-Sobers in the T&T Guardian (15/10/2025), Davendranath Tancoo, minister finance said: “I can tell you recently when I travelled, I went to the bank and I got US$200. I’m the Minister of Finance,” he revealed, prompting laughter and disbelief from the audience. “I couldn’t pay for the airfare, hotel, and food at the same time that’s where we are.” The minister was lucky. I was not so lucky. Anyway, I wrote the letter.
The script was adapted to suit the requirements for this newspaper:
“Dear Sir/Madam:
On Wednesday, August 27, 2025, I visited the Sangre Grande branch of the Republic Bank to request the sum of USD200. It was around 1:30 pm and I was the only one in the line, but I waited at least ten or 12 minutes before I met with an attendant. If you ask God to give you the attribute of patience, He will tell you to get an account and just be an ordinary member of the Republic Bank in Sangre Grande. At this bank, you will receive all the patience that you could tote. “Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen”…only Jesus understands. I am not the only one seeing trouble. In one instance, there were 28 people in line with only one teller! Jeezanages! Many of the people were senior people. All I said was “mon Dieu!”
I think I was 18 years old when I opened an account at the said bank. I am now 71. That means that I have kept my account with this bank for 53 years. Yes! Five decades plus! Amazing, isn’t it? If you think that longevity in the Republic Bank in Sangre Grande is credibility, think again! I joined the bank when it was Barclays Bank of England. It was located adjacent to the roundabout in Sangre Grande. Established in Trinidad in the year 1857, Barclays Bank was formerly known as the Colonial Bank. Nevertheless, despite the name change, rebranding, and all the hoopla associated with cricket and the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), the Republic Bank has remained, in many ways, quite a colonial institution with the exception of the abuse of the English language on the sign outside relative to parking. I could say more about this sign but so much for that.
Sometime in late 2024, I walked into the bank and asked for USD100 for my trip to the United States. I was refused, but I requested to speak with the manager. We had a good little chat, and eventually she made me comfortable by granting me the currency. During the verbal exchange, I did not fail to remind her that the bank is still very colonial. Nonetheless, the manager was very pleasant and considerate; not caustic at all.
Wednesday, August 27, was quite different. I showed the attendant the ticket for my flight scheduled for Sunday, 14 September 2025, at 12:10 AM. She asked me for a form of identification. I complied. Seemingly, she had to consult with her supervising officer about my request. She came back to me and told me that I am applying for the USD200 too early and that I should come back on Monday, September 01, which incidentally was a public holiday. If I returned to the bank on September 02, the bank would make another excuse why I couldn’t apply for the USD…they could very well say that I am applying too late. I was hit for six runs over the covers! It was definitely a “Republic Maximum!” Six runs! It’s quite possible that the Sangre Grande Republic Bank is inflexible and prefers to be extremely exacting with its rules and regulations unless.
Driving back to Republic Bank is a bit of a task for me, a 71-year-old having to drive from Valencia on the humpy, bumpy, and lumpy Valencia Stretch where commuters constantly dodge the surface irregularities on the road. It’s scary! Then I have to pass through Sangre Grande in the frustrating and congested traffic, not to mention the turn off to River Street. The authorities should rename that road: ‘The National Pothole Street.’ I told the bank officer that this is what I’ll have to pass through again to visit the bank for a paltry USD200.
We are all aware that Republic Bank does not conduct business on public holidays, and weekends (Saturday & Sunday). How many days do we have left concerning the application for this money? Let’s look squarely at the scenario. If we count from August 27 to September 12, we have 12 working days. My flight was scheduled for September 14. I am of the view that I came to the bank on time to make the application! Maybe I should have come earlier than August 27 to be exactly present for the 14-day window. I know that Trinidad and Tobago is having an abundance of problems with foreign exchange (FOREX), but there’s more that I must make known.
After the episode at the bank, I had to make a couple errands. In one of the places I visited, I spoke of my experience at the bank earlier in the day. Behind the counter a lady calmly said to me: “Dey does give USD tuh who dey want tuh give.” O ho! She said that she personally knows at least three people who does just walk in and get 400 to 500 US dollars just so. The lady mentioned a certain name, and I realised that I know the person. It seems that ‘Seepaul luck is not Gopaul luck’ in the Sangre Grande Republic Bank. It could be that such people who easily obtain USD belong to the ‘one percent’ that Kamla Persad-Bissessar, prime minister of T&T spoke about on the UNC Monday Night Forum on August 11, 2025. Here’s part of her speech (verbatim):
“Tonight I am holding the boards and management of Republic Bank, First Citizens Bank and Exim Bank to sought themselves out. These institutions are not functioning in the best interest of our citizens. They operate in the interest of a few…That is what has been happening in secret behind closed doors…no transparency, no fairness, just inhouse deal making. Thank God you put us into office so that we can expose them for their dealings…”
I am not in the bracket of the one-percenters. I don’t dress in a ‘jacket and tie.’ I wear a weather-beaten slipper, a tee-shirt and a pair of jeans. To some people, I may look like a homeless vagrant. Nevertheless, I would hope to be treated fairly. I am of the view that the Republic Bank in Sangre Grande should have a little more compassion and consideration for aged people like me with a sustained account. In fact, the bank should be happy to give awards and certificates of recognition to those who have had accounts that are 50 years or more.
If I had to go back to reapply for this money, it could have meant me taking three trips (back and forth) from Valencia to Sangre Grande. Apparently, the first trip (August 27) was just to find out that I requested the money “too early.” The second trip would have been to re-apply, and the third trip to return on a specified date before my flight. What a travesty! Such harassment! I would really hope, according to prime minister, that the Republic Bank will sought-out itself. In light of all the inconveniences (run around) and lack of consideration and understanding meted out to me, I will not be returning to this bank for any USD. I will do without. The bank could give that FOREX to its partisans. Yours respectfully…”
I would not be reticent to add a Facebook post about this Republic Bank…“Worst customer service at Republic Bank, Sangre Grande.” In light of this, I have selected one comment from the thread:
“So true. Imagine going to conduct a transaction, and when u go upstairs by the desk, the individual there tells u to hold one moment, then proceeds to have u standing there waiting for a whole 20 minutes while she finishes typing up god knows whatever on her computer. By this time, the waiting line is now all the way to the stairs, and she just comfortable having ppl wait while she typing inno. On top of that, when u call the bank to ask for information, they don’t know how to speak to ppl.”
So, as John Keats’ ‘Naughty Boy,’ I will stand in my shoes and wonder if the branches of the Republic Bank in Ghana, St. Lucia, Grenada, Anguilla, Barbados, Dominica, Suriname, and Guyana treat their customers in the same manner as this one in Sangre Grande. Maybe they’ll get better in the next Aa Bhi Ja (thousand years in Hindi). I am only a voice crying in the wilderness.
