$40M to assist persons with disabilities

Minister of Finance Dr Nigel Clarke, has announced that persons with disabilities who are having challenges accessing the benefits of the COVID Allocation of Resources for Employees (CARE) programme, will be given special consideration.

Addressing the House of Representatives on April 28, the Minister said $40 million will be transferred to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security to provide support to the community of persons living with disabilities.

“While some persons living with disabilities have signed up for and will benefit from compassionate grants, others within this group experience unique challenges that make it difficult for them to sign up online, to have an ID, to go to a bank to collect, so we have to accommodate them and ensure that they are included and have a parallel mechanism, while ensuring that we don’t have persons who are double-dipping,” he said.

The Government has instituted a multibillion-dollar COVID Allocation of Resources for Employees (CARE) programme to assist workers and businesses during the emergency period caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19).

Dr Clarke pointed out that further details on how persons with disabilities will access the benefits will be outlined by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, noting that persons will be required to provide a Tax Registration Number (TRN).

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