Govt Spends Over $800k Every Month to Pay Allowances of the Elderly – Skerrit

Barbara 19th June, 2020

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The government spends over $800,000 every month to pay the allowances of the elderly in Dominica, and about $3.6 million every month to sustain the National Employment Programme (NEP). This fact was revealed by Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit during the handing over of new homes to 60 families in Delices.

Despite the huge investment made to sustain NEP and pay the monthly allowances of senior citizens aged 70 and above in Dominica, Skerrit said the programme will continue to run into the foreseeable future even though the government is struggling to meet up in the face of diminished revenue occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The prime minister said other countries would have been tempted to quit any assistance they are not legally obligated to provide to the people in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, but Dominica would not do this bearing in mind the importance of the monthly income to many families across the island.

He said young people are supposed to provide for their elderly folks in their old age, but economic twists have turned the situation around, making senior citizens who are on pensions or social welfare to help out their childen until they find their feet in life. He said the government will continue to assist the elderly through NEP so that people can do things for their families as well as meet personal needs at these trying times.

Parliamentary representative for the La Plaine constituency, Kent Edwards, and the people in Delice thanked the government for the gift of hurricane-resilient homes, and also appreciated the Skerrit-led administration for continuing the NEP programme despite the struggling economy under COVID-19.