Cox: We're trying to wean people off state assistance

Minister of Social Development and Family Services Donna Cox has urged the public to be "your brother's and sister's keeper. Ensure they access the grants, programmes and services offered by the ministry."

She made the comments on Tuesday at her ministry on St Vincent Street, Port of Spain.

The ministry joined the international community to commemorate the UN International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (IDEP). This year's theme is "Dignity for all in practice: The commitments we make together for social justice, peace and the planet."

Cox said, "In keeping with this year's theme, our Social Investigations Division will undertake a week of activities as part of its #EndPovertyTT Week 2022, aimed at promoting awareness of poverty-related issues, encouraging transformative actions and strengthening collaborations in the fight against poverty.

"Out of respect for the dignity of the most vulnerable, the ministry has been working to minimise and roll back poverty through sustainable measures."

Some of the measures she listed were: setting up a social services and empowerment unit to help social welfare recipients live more independently; implementing a national register of vulnerable people to help government identify the poor and vulnerable; and continuing the National Social Mitigation Plan, which seeks to expand food security and grow small enterprises.

She added that the Sowing Empowerment through Entrepreneurial Development programme is the ministry's flagship, "designed to ensure that we create more and more entrepreneurs, and in doing so, wean people off the need for state assistance."

Cox said this UN initiative is a time for governments and people around the world to stand with poor and vulnerable people, to help them overcome poverty.

To that end, she said the government increased the personal tax allowance from $84,000 to $90,000, benefiting 300,000 people, and gave a one-off transport grant to the most vulnerable who were "affected by the reduction, not removal, of the gas subsidy."

Cox also spoke about the expansion of the Government Assistance for Tuition Expenses (GATE) programme to "include more technical vocational subject areas, consistent with the Government's belief that education is one sure way out of poverty."

Also present to mark the IDEP was Ministry of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries representative Dexter Samm. He said, "Part of eradication of poverty has to do with agriculture. The Ministry of Social Development and Family Services invited us to talk about the Farmers Registration Programme and all the grants we have to encourage farming.

"So we have a small display telling people how to register as a farmer in TT, and once you register, we have the incentive packages, what you could get back, like you could get back 50 per cent when you buy a wacker, or when you buy pesticides or seeds. You'd get access to vehicles with the VAT off. You could get back $25,000 when you buy a vehicle.

"We also have a $100,000 grant for established farmers who want to upgrade their farms.

"We're encouraging agro-processing as well. A processor might buy guava from a farmer, he/she might want to make it into guava jam, or somebody might buy or grow pepper and want to turn it into pepper sauce."

The ministry's Agriculture Incentive Programme details costs and subsidies for machinery and equipment, land preparation and clearing, livestock, waste management, fisheries, vehicles, tree crops and soil amelioration, among other things.

Details of the week of activities planned by the Ministry of Social Development and Family Services to mark the IDEP are available on its website and social media pages.