Needy J’cans expected to benefit from $126m in aid soon
Juanique Tennant / Our Today
Needy Jamaicans will soon be able to receive assistance through the $126 million set aside to aid in any financial difficulties they might have or are facing as a result of the weekend lockdowns established to assist in the fight against COVID-19.
In a statement Monday (April 5), Dr Nigel Clarke, minister of finance and the public service, said the $126 million in additional support for the vulnerable – that he announced as he closed the Budget Debate on March 23 – would soon be made available through the Constituency Development Fund (CDF).
CDF to confirm receipt of funds today
Clarke said in the Monday statement: “I expect that tomorrow (April 6), the first full working day in the new financial year, the head of the CDF will confirm receipt of the $126 million from the Consolidated Fund.”
He went on to note that “upon that confirmation, the CDF will send to members of parliament the requisite forms and regulations, in regards to the allocation. (After which) members of parliament can then access their constituency’s allocation to procure basic food items for the vulnerable and underserved”.
Clarke’s comment came in an attempt to stave off any concerns individuals may have had over not yet seeing assistance being given out, days after the April 1 date that had been set for the CDF to receive the funds.
Over the weekend Julian Robinson, opposition spokesman on finance, called fo the finance minister to update parliamentarians and the public on the funds.
“Since the minister [Clarke] made the announcement, our constituents have been inundating us with requests and we have not received anything in this regard. The Minister promised that the funds would be available in time to facilitate assistance before the long Easter weekend lockdown. Nothing has come,” he said in a statement.
The funds would have been sent to the CDF just a day before Good Friday, a public holiday which had also been subject to an all-day lockdown.
The Government announced three consecutive weekend lockdowns, which started the weekend of March 27, during a virtual press conference held on Sunday, March 21. To date, the island has undergone two of the weekend lockdowns.
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