Labour and Social Security Ministry rejects as false a Gleaner newspaper claim that Gov’t has “pocketed $770-million intended for the poor under the Solidarity Programme”

The Labour and Social Security Ministry is rejecting as false and misleading a Gleaner newspaper claim that the Government of Jamaica has “pocketed $770-million intended for the poor under the Solidarity Programme.”

The facts are as follows.

1.⁠ ⁠$230.4 million of the approximately $1billion assigned to the Solidarity Programme was disbursed to recipients

2.⁠ ⁠$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.

3.⁠ ⁠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 of Labour and Social Security has written to the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service requesting that the monies remaining from the initial allocation to the Solidarity Programme be reverted to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security to be disbursed to society’s most vulnerable under our social programmes.

The implementation of the Solidarity Programme was affected by several major bureaucratic challenges, which significantly impacted timelines and operations. Hurricane Melissa also affected 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.

A number of operational challenges also emerged during implementation, including ongoing refinements to the GovPayout digital platform during live operations; ⁠difficulties experienced by some applicants relating to documentation and verification requirements; and ⁠challenges with digital access and uploads among vulnerable sections of the population. Expenditure under the Solidarity Programme was subjected to a real-time audit by the Auditor General’s Department, which was part of additional layers of verification and oversight which were introduced as part of the accountability framework governing the Programme.

This included detailed audit review processes and the requirement for extensive application-by-application validation to ensure transparency, proper verification and the responsible administration of public funds.

While these processes extended timelines, they were geared towards preserving the integrity of the Programme and ensuring that assistance reaches legitimate beneficiaries in a fair and equitable manner.

The Ministry remains focused on completing outstanding reconciliation and payment activities as quickly and efficiently as possible and reiterates its commitment to ensuring that vulnerable Jamaicans continue to receive the support and protection they deserve.