The staff at the Department of Social Development is working assiduously to verify and process more than 12,000 applications that were submitted to the Poverty Alleviation Programme (PAP).

Persons had to reapply for the programme in November 2022 following the discovery of irregularities that saw ineligible persons receiving the monthly $500 stipend.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Social Development, the Honourable Dr. Geoffrey Hanley, gave an update on the regularization process on Wednesday (January 18, 2023) during the Prime Minister’s Press Conference with Cabinet Ministers. It was held in the NEMA Conference Room.

“The entire team is doing the verification process right now, checking with all of the agencies including Social Security, making sure that the Social Security numbers are correct and the information that persons shared is accurate,” Dr. Hanley said.

The goal is to have the work done by the end of the month so that payments are made to eligible beneficiaries confirmed through the verification process. When payments resume, the Deputy Prime Minister said that vulnerable groups will be given priority based on their social and economic needs.

These include persons who are unemployed, seniors, and persons with disabilities. After these are verified, persons who are employed in a household earning less than $3,000 per month will then benefit from the stipend.