Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness has announced a J$1 billion Solidarity Programme that will provide one-time cash grants of J$20,000 to J$50,000 vulnerable Jamaicans.

To be eligible for the grant, individuals should not be beneficiaries of the Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH), the Social Pension Programme, National Insurance Scheme (NIS) or the Reverse Income Tax Credit.

The prime minister, in his contribution to the 2025-26 Budget Debate on March 20, explained that the Solidarity Programme will address the needs of Jamaicans who are not currently benefiting from existing Government initiatives.

“This initiative will support elderly persons in need, youth not engaged in education or employment, microbusinesses affected by disaster, low-income informal workers, medically indigent individuals, and persons with disabilities facing economic hardship,” Holness said.

He acknowledged that some of the targeted persons may lack formal identification and that this could present a barrier to them participating in other social support programmes. 

As such, he indicated that the Government would assist these individuals to obtain birth certificates through the Operation Birthright Programme and secure national identification cards.

Holness informed that applications for the Solidarity Programme will be accepted through an online portal.

“We are proposing the online portal that was used for the CARE programme during the pandemic, and applications will be made through this portal.  Referrals will be managed through the Ministry of Labour and Social Security. We will enlist the Members of Parliament, as they did during the pandemic, to find the persons in their constituencies who qualify and ensure that they enrol for this programme,” he said.

He noted that his government will seek to provide further support to beneficiaries of the Solidarity Programme as needed.

“If there is an elderly person who is not registered on the pension programme, bring them on to this. If they could qualify for the PATH programme, we start to investigate their case. If they are a young person and not attached to any training programme, we get them on to a training programme. That’s the whole idea behind this Solidarity Programme,” the prime minister pointed out.

He noted that the goal is to bring the programmes of the State to those who need the support.

“The State is concerned about your welfare. The State cares about you. We stand in solidarity with you,” he assured.