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JAM | Oct 14, 2021

New CARE Programme to benefit 350,000 Jamaicans

Juanique Tennant

Juanique Tennant / Our Today

Reading Time: 4 minutes
Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr Nigel Clarke, opening the 2021/22 Budget Debate in the House of Representatives on March 9. (Photo: Jamaica Information Service)

The Government of Jamaica has pledged to provide COVID-19 relief funding to approximately 350,000 Jamaicans from new grants under the COVID Allocation of Resources for Employees (CARE) Programme.

Over a period of six months, one-off grants, ranging from $10,000 to $18,000 will be made accessible to vulnerable individuals across six categories at a total cost of $3.75 billion.

The announcement of the new grants was made in Parliament on Tuesday (October 12) by Dr Nigel Clarke, minister of finance and the public service.

While making the announcement, Clarke reiterated that the Government remains committed to “put more resources in people’s hands” as economic conditions improve.

“We have to look out for those at the bottom of the scale; those patriotic Jamaicans who play by the rules, who hold down a job, who pay their statutory deductions and for whom COVID and the increases in prices have made things a little more difficult.”

Nigel Clarke, Minister of Finance and the Public Service

Outlining the various targeted social assistance, which will be carried out by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security in collaboration with the finance ministry, Clarke informed that an automatic one-off grant of $10,000 will be provided to all heads of the Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH)-beneficiary households.

“That is, the CARE Programme will provide approximately 130,000 such grants at a total cost of $1.3 billion. This expenditure is automatic; there is no need to apply,” said Clarke.

A similar automatic one-off $10,000 grant will also be provided for National Insurance Scheme (NIS) pensioners, who are in receipt of an NIS pension being paid at a rate of $10,000 a month or less.

“There are about 57,000 pensioners in this category. The total cost of this grant is expected to be approximately $570 million,” Clarke informed.

Dr Nigel Clarke. (Photo: JIS)

An automatic one-off grant of $10,000 will be paid to all employees, who are on the Pay as You Earn (PAYE) system and who earn less than or equal to $15,000 a week (gross) or $60,000 per month (gross).

“We have to look out for those at the bottom of the scale; those patriotic Jamaicans who play by the rules, who hold down a job, who pay their statutory deductions and for whom COVID and the increases in prices have made things a little more difficult,” stated Clarke.

In addition, all self-employed persons, whose statutory income is less than or equal to $60,000 per month will also benefit from a $10,000 one-off payment.

Clarke informed that the Government expected to make payments to approximately 130,000 persons who meet these threshold requirements and has allocated $1.3 billion for the CARE programme initiative.

The CARE Programme, an initiative of the Ministry of Finance. (Photo: JIS)

As the Government has no database of the bank accounts of persons in this category, they will have to apply through the CARE portal giving their information and providing a bank account or a remittance agency where they can be paid.

Unemployed persons, who had previously received grants under the Supporting Employees with Transfer of Cash (SET Cash) component and who remain out of work as of September 30, 2021, will benefit from an automatic one-off payment of $18,000.

The SET Cash component of the CARE Programme caters to employees, who have either been laid off or had their jobs terminated as of March 10, 2020, due to economic challenges resulting from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

“We are making provisions to be in a position to provide grants to 35,000 such persons and, therefore, we are allocating $670 million for this,” the finance minister said.

Dr Nigel Clarke, minister of finance and the public service.

Automatic one-off $10,000 payments will also be made to beneficiaries of the Government’s $800-million Social Pension Programme, which was launched by Prime Minister Andrew Holness in July.

The programme provides a guaranteed income for vulnerable persons 75 years and older. Seniors targeted are those not currently in receipt of a pension, disability benefit or other retirement benefits; cash grants from PATH or the Poor Relief Programme, and who do not reside in a government institutional care facility.

The CARE Programme forms part of the Social and Economic Recovery and Vaccine (SERVE) Jamaica Programme, which will be the foundation for the country’s economic revival.

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