Imbert: 17,046 rejected for salary relief grant

SOME 17,046 applicants for Government’s salary relief grant were rejected, Finance Minister Colm Imbert told the House of Representatives on Monday in reply to a listed question by Chaguanas East MP Vandana Mohit.

He said the award of the grant was entirely non-political. Imbert listed the many reasons why an application was rejected, such as an applicant having been laid off before the covid19 lockdown or not being on the database of the National Insurance Service (NIS.)

Earlier, in reply to another question from Mohit, Imbert said some 33,734 people had received the salary relief grant, most of whom had received it by way of three payments, with payments totalling $129 million. Imbert told Mohit the relevant database did not list the beneficiaries by way of a constituency.

Replying to an earlier question in the name of Couva South MP Rudranath Indarsingh, Imbert listed beneficiaries of other types of assistance.

Some $16 million in rental support had helped 3,770 people, some 47,340 people had shared $144 million in income support, while 48,922 people had benefited from $74 million in food support.