(Trinidad Express) Over 3,000 people attempted “double dipping” into the Salary Relief Grant, and the Income Support Grant distributed by the Government through separate ministries to assist cash-strapped families and individuals during the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic.
Minister of Social Development and Family Services Camille Robinson-Regis said that this was one of the challenges faced in the delivery of Government’s support initiatives.
Robinson-Regis made the disclosure as she gave updates the expenditure incurred by the Government to finance support initiatives during the Covid-19 virtual media update on Wednesday.
The minister said the most significant cost incurred by the government has been in providing temporary income and food support to persons who were either retrenched, terminated or experienced reduced income.
She said there were several relief measures through grants, hamper distribution, and other support initiatives through partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries, and faith-based organisations.
The total expenditure by her ministry, she said, was $284 million.
The social development and family services minister said however, that unfortunately, there were challenges in the delivery of the support measures.
“There is always the possibility of some persons demonstrating what is less than authentic in themselves to this end. We have found that there may have been over 3,000 persons who may have attempted to receive the Salary Relief Grant, which is through the Ministry of Finance through the National Insurance Board, and the Income Support Grant through the Ministry of Social Services”, she said.
Robinson-Regis said the first challenge was ‘double dipping’, and the ministries had embarked on a verification exercise to ensure no such duplication of benefits.
Another challenge posed was the failure of some applicants to properly complete the forms before submission.
The minister said it was discovered that very often when a person takes to social media to complain about their inability to receive their grants the fault lies squarely on their shoulders.
Robinson-Regis said that over 3,072 landlords receive payments for their tenants which totaled over $8.7 million.
She said that to date 95 percent or 6,280 of the 6,806 applications for rental support have been processed.
However, for varying reasons 1,632 applications have been rejected because of a number of those applications were without proper documentation or were not completed effectively, or were an attempt to scam the Government.
“I urge citizens to be honest in their applications. You cannot receive grants for loss of salary or reduced salary from the National Insurance Board and the (Social Services) ministry. That is just dishonest and illegal. Additionally if there are still persons filling out forms, please ensure that you supply all the information that is required so that the applications can be expedited. Failure to do so will result in the applications being rejected”, she said.
“Our common purpose is to ensure that no citizen goes to bed hungry, no child is deprived of a meal, and that no parent is unable to put food on his or her table. We have as a country demonstrated, time and time again, our resilience as a people, and this time is no different”, said Robinson-Regis.
