I am one of hundreds (if not thousands!) of people who unjustly has not yet received the energy allowance yet. The figure of 97 per cent of families receiving the energy allowance – like the 30,000 families receiving the energy voucher – is not credible.

I certainly do not consume more than 10,000 units, being just a low income pensioner in a family of three; and I am not entitled to the energy voucher on account of the fact that my total income was a couple of euros above the ceiling. Why was my family excluded from receiving the energy allowance?

I called 188 for information as instructed in the advert of the Ministry of Finance and it seems that they are not prepared to solve any such problems. In fact, the person answering after quite some time only took my particulars and told me that I may receive an explanation in a week’s time. A week passed and I am still waiting!

My last water and electricity bill was for nine months from July 2009 to April 2010. It was quite costly and we had to do without certain needs to pay it.

I wrote letters to both the Ministry of Finance and the Director of the Social Security.

I hope that someone responsible for this unjustifiable hassle will respond and explain why so many people should suffer on account of this disservice.

And while airing this complaint through this paper, I must ask why one has to wait for an unreasonable time and nobody answers while the answering machine monotonously repeats what you must do. This procedure is generally applied in most government departments and surely gets on one’s nerves.

To conclude, should not the telephone directory be updated as the last one is dated 2004 with numerous obsolete numbers?