Food support card distribution starts

THE Social Development and Family Services Ministry has started the distributions of food support cards. In a statement the ministry said on March 23, the first batch of these cards were issued to Members of Parliament (MPs) for distribution to families of children who are registered for the School Feeding Programme of the Education Ministry and who are not clients of the ministry’s Food Support Programme.

In the initial phase, each MP was given 50 cards to distribute to families who meet the criteria. On March 25, another batch of cards was issued and from April 2, MPs or their representatives received an additional batch of 100 cards each.

To date, the ministry said the majority of MPs have collected and distributed cards to their constituents. The ministry added that cards for the Barataria/San Juan and Princes Town constituencies were not collected. The ministry said, " This particular measure amounts to $12,357,810 for food cards distributed via the MP offices; and another $17,144,100 which relates to the topping up for existing food support clients of the ministry, whose economic circumstances would be exacerbated by the pandemic."

These constituencies are represented in Parliament by Dr Fuad Khan and Barry Padarath respectively. The process for collection and distribution involves the submission of names of the students on the School Feeding Register by the Ministry of Education; followed by verification by the social development ministry to ensure that enlisted households are not already in receipt of food support.

The ministry said, once verified, the lists are sent to the MPs' offices where eligible recipients are called and informed of their collection dates and time. Each recipient is required to sign the declaration form for the card, which is valued at $510 per household.

Each MP was also provided with clear guidelines on the procedure for distributing the cards. People are asked to not dispose their cards, since there will be a top-up for the next two months.

The ministry also advised that the original 50 cards distributed to households in each constituency have already been topped up to the amount of $1,020. The cards which are being distributed at present have also been topped up for the next three months in the sum of $1,530 each.

The ministry said if a child’s name or school does not appear on the listing, this information should be referred to the MP’s office, following which a revision will be done by the Education Ministry. Once the person’s name appears on the School Feeding Register, they are to collect the card only from the constituency in which they reside, not the constituency of the school.

The ministry advised the public that for all enquiries related to food support for those on the School Feeding programme, to call toll free 800-1673, 800-6742 or call 623-2608; ext 1120 to 1132. This initiative was first announced by Social Development and Family Services Minister Camille Robinson-Regis on March 23.