Poor and needy citizens residing across the 63 political constituencies in Jamaica are to get much needed assistance through a $1.5 million allocation to be made to each parliamentarian.
Labour and Social Security Minister, Karl Samuda, made the announcement in the House of Representatives on Wednesday.
Samuda said the monies under the Special Allocation for Short-term Poverty Intervention programme are typically paid in tranches.
However, he noted given the struggles faced by many currently, it was decided to make the entire amount available immediately.
Samuda said the Government was in a position to make the monetary allocation.
“Over the period of the next few months, each Member of Parliament can choose how they wish to identify the recipients but they can be assured that we will be monitoring the situation at the level of the social workers to ensure that the programme runs, as usual, quite smoothly,” he stated.
The war between Ukraine and Russia, compounded by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, has further worsened the global economic outlook, with inflation rising in several countries.
Jamaica, too, has seen rising inflation rates, leading to high prices for food, fuels and other commodities.
