More people seeking emergency food grants; government implored to act
Horace Mills - Tuesday, December 25th, 2012 at 11:11 AM
The Social Development Department said it is now in a better position to assist the increased number of persons requiring immediate food assistance.
The Department’s 2011 Annual Report noted that the Public Assistance Committee had experienced major challenges delivering immediate service to applicants.
The situation was rectified in September last year when the Committee established an “extensive pantry” to assist persons who were in need of emergency assistance.
There was a big increase in the number of people who applied for emergency assistance last year, compared to the two previous years.
A total of 59 people applied to the Public Assistance Committee for food grants last year. Of that number, 35 were approved, 22 were turned down and the remaining two were pending.
In its break-down of the 35 persons assisted, the Committee said: “Five received a food grant for nine consecutive months, ten received a food grant for six consecutive months, seven received for three, five received for two months, and the remaining eight applicants received emergency food grants.”
Of the 59 people who sought food grants last year, only six were females.
Meanwhile, the Public Assistance Committee said, between 2009 and 2011, there was a constant increase in the number of persons seeking food grants on time limits, compared to those seeking indefinite assistance.
There was a significant drop in the number of people who sought indefinite help with food. The Public Assistance Committee also noted that persons usually apply for food grants more than they do for other forms of help which include burial grants, medical assistance and rent.
Commenting on the general social issues that might have resulted in people seeking assistance, the Committee called on the government to facilitate a more equitable distribution of resources.
It said: “In the midst of the economic expansion and growth, the challenge of equitable distribution of goods and services throughout the population is a fundamental issue facing most, if not all developing countries which have high per capita incomes and steady economic growth.”
“The Virgin Islands, without exception, must then grapple with the issue of ensuring that the perceived or real benefits of growth are distributed throughout the population, notably reaching such vulnerable groups as the elderly, the disabled, children and single parent households in an effort to foster and maintain sustainable social advancement amongst its general populace,” the 2011 report further recommended.
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5 Comments
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As a community we must and should show compassion for and sensitivity to our truly needy citizens who have fallen on hard time. We should extend a helping hand to them by providing a safety net(s). Additionally, we must explore the circumstances that caused our fellow citizens to require this helping hand and what actions can be taken to get them back on and sustain them on their feet.
Was their need a function of underemployment, unemployment, low skill and low pay jobs, high and rising cost of living, folks over extending their income and trying to keep up with the jones’s….etc. Whatever the cause we should help the truly needy. But all of us need to take responsibility for our personal lifestyle by adjusting it to align with our income level.
Moreover, of the applicants for assistance, only 10% were women. Normally, most applicants for assistance are single parents who are primarily women or separated women with children. This stat that show men dominating applicants is unusual and interesting. Is this a social and cultural shift? No slight to sisters intended. The numbers are just a deviation from the mean. Overall though only about 0.1% of population is applying for assistance.
How many are locals or expats?
To Missing Link…..you hit the nail on the head….Amen to that.
I know there are a few people that are genuinely in need but check out some of those who balling. hair well done, weave up, braid up, samsung, iPhone, blackberry, sometimes two out of the three, always on the road partying, breeding every minute. give me a break. bvi has hard times like anywhere else but I wont say there’s a poverty problem. the govt can assist the minority who needs it and let the others live within their damn means. smart phones, hairstyles and fancy cars are not a right. use the money to buy food and take care of the kids.
Amen to that,am a single mom, I do have a blackberry, I don”t party, it does get hard sometimes but I live within my means cause I know what I can and can”t afford,I proposse that from here on out, government need to do like China or Japan one of them- ONE CHILD PER COUPLE,it getting rediculous now.You can’t expect to get a child every year and feel things going get better,that only making it worst.
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