Samuda urges MPs to steer vulnerable to PATH

Labour and Social Security Minister Karl Samuda is encouraging members of parliament (MPs) to work with the ministry to identify people who should be enrolled in the Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH), the State’s chief welfare initiative.

Samuda was addressing the House of Representatives on Wednesday as he responded to questions posed in July by St Andrew South Western MP, Dr Angela Brown Burke, who is also the deputy leader of opposition business.

“Our objective is to get 100 per cent of the people in need to enjoy benefits under this programme. This programme is not short of money ... . What we are struggling with is just simply finding the people and establishing the appropriate systems so that they get it quickly,” Samuda said.

Launched in 2002, PATH is a conditional cash transfer programme funded by the Government and the World Bank with the intention of providing benefits in the form of cash grants to the most needy and vulnerable in the society.

“Many of the persons who are eligible for PATH cannot find their way to a parish officer or sometimes do not have a direct contact to a social worker because [they are of] a limited number and we want to expand that,” Samuda said, appealing for his colleague parliamentarians to assist the process.

He urged MPs to get in touch with him, the ministry’s permanent secretary, or the National Insurance Scheme office to obtain a list of residents from their respective constituencies who had submitted applications for assistance under the ministry’s rehab programme.

Currently, there are 282,382 registered PATH beneficiaries.

SERIES RESUMPTION

Since 2018, the ministry has undertaken an engagement series, which identifies poverty-stricken communities representing 15 per cent of the applications, but the series was placed on hold for 2020 and 2021 as a result of the pandemic. It was resumed in July and will continue through to December.

Opposition Leader Mark Golding sought clarification on the removal process for former beneficiaries of the programme, noting that he had received several complaints.

Samuda confessed that he was not sufficiently briefed on the process of removal, and also admitted to receiving complaints.

He said that there was a need for a clear basis for removal in order to eliminate doubt and unnecessary anxieties.

The minister dispelled any notion that the disabled were being mistreated under the programme, saying, instead, that they were dealt with as a priority group.

“We are very vigilant on that and we are determined to do everything we can to ensure that they are treated with priority,” he said.

The Ministry of Labour and Social Security is hopeful that by early next year, 70 per cent of all PATH payments will be done electronically.

In response to Brown Burke, who is also the opposition spokesperson on labour and social security, Samuda suggested that his ministry partner with the education ministry to utilise guidance counsellors, who frequently visit the homes of students and are familiar with their circumstances, so that they can recommend them for PATH enrolment.

“One of the reasons the children are handicapped in their learning and need additional help is because of the poor conditions under which they live. Once that condition is detected, Minister [Fayval Williams], I think that we will have to establish a process whereby we link that side of your ministry with ours in PATH so that we can directly use them almost as agents of the system that will give us knowledge on the true state of affairs in our country,” he said.

asha.wilks@gleanerjm.com