Ministry of Labour and Social Security requests remaining solidarity programme funds from Ministry of Finance

The Ministry of Labour and Social Security says it has written to the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service requesting that monies remaining from the solidarity programme be reverted to it, to be disbursed to society’s most vulnerable under its social programmes.

The Ministry made the disclosure in a press release yesterday as it sought to explain the allocation of funds under the programme.

This followed a media report that 70 per cent of the $1 billion allocated for the programme was not spent on the poor.

Noting that the report was false, the Ministry outlined that $230.4 million of the approximately $1 billion assigned to the solidarity programme was disbursed to recipients.

It added that another $236.2 million was re-allocated to the Rehabilitation and Social Pension Fund and used to provide grants to people assessed to be in need and who are considered to be among society’s most vulnerable.

According to the Ministry,⁠ ⁠approximately $533 million is being returned to the Consolidated Fund as the financial year had expired during the process of expending the allocation, and fiscal rules mandate that remaining sums be returned to the Consolidated Fund.

The Ministry explained that the implementation of the solidarity programme was affected by several major bureaucratic challenges which significantly impacted timelines and operations.

It adds that Hurricane Melissa also affected the roll-out of the programme, as it disrupted national operations and shifted critical administrative and field resources into emergency response and recovery efforts at a crucial phase of execution.