The Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) is calling on Government to do better by all the citizens who are yet to receive their Salary Relief Grants, to help them weather the COVID-19 crisis.
According to a statement issued today by the party’s Chairman, Gregory Fernandez, six weeks have passed since the crisis began and thousands of citizens are still waiting on Government’s promised support.
The MSJ chairman says the slow pace of implementing the various social and relief measures is making an already challenging time even more unbearable for vulnerable citizens.
The full text of the MSJ’s statement, follows…
GOVERNMENT MUST DO BETTER ON IMPLEMENTATION OF SALARY RELIEF GRANT AND OTHER SOCIAL MEASURES.
The Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) is very concerned with the slow pace of the government’s efforts to implement the Salary Relief Grant to our citizens who have been retrenched or lost income due to COVID-19. Many citizens are suffering the economic impact of the Pandemic.
On Sunday 17th May, Prime Minister Dr. Rowley stated that only 12,000 grants had been processed. The private sector has indicated that over 100,000 persons have been affected and the government itself had indicated it was catering for 80,000 persons. This is 6 weeks into the lock down and clearly it shows an implementation deficit on the government’s part.
It should be noted that the government’s efforts to send money to the churches and other NGO’s has helped but it is clearly not enough.
The fact that citizens have no money to spend equates to the economy rebounding at a much slower rate.
MSJ questions this PNM’s government’s ability to implement or lack thereof which does not bode well for the future. If they are this slow to get this going, what chance does the recovery plan have?
GREGORY FERNANDEZ
CHAIRMAN