But, the Human Development Minister says there are logistical flaws with the rollout of these aid programs like Food Assistance and the Belize COVID-19 Cash Transfer.
She told us that she is particularly concerned about a practice where beneficiaries have been receiving their aid with the help of other persons close to them, simply because they don't have a social security card for proper identification purposes:
Hon. Dolores Balderamos-Garcia - Minister of Human Development
"One of the things that I would like to correct in the future is that some people who did not have a Social Security Card were using another person. And I was very concerned about that because when you use someone else's name, and that person may have a job, or that person may be a businessperson, it doesn't look good. Even though the money is not intended for the businessperson, it is intended for the poorer person. So, we have had some difficulties, but I beg excuse to everybody for that, and we will do our best for those who did not qualify for the BCCAT, we will do our best to see if we can get them on the Food Assistance, recalling of course that it will have to be a scaled-down program. If we start with 3 million, that is not a whole lot."
Reporter
"So, you managed to weed out the fake names and those who didn't deserve..."
Hon. Dolores Balderamos-Garcia
"Yes, we managed to weed out a lot of the fake names, but like I said, to repeat, one of the difficulties that we had is that many applicants were using someone else's name because they did not have a Social Security Card."
Reporter
"Minister can I get a couple of clarifications, and that itself is one of them. Do they have to go get a Social Security Card. The other clarifications are, by what you've said this morning, up until August, or when the money will run you, there will be no acceptance of any more new applicants, right?"
Hon. Dolores Balderamos-Garcia
"No."
Reporter
"And the other thing is that I wanted an understanding that there is no political interference in how this is handed out - either the food assistance or the BCCAT because you had complained about the village chairperson for Hattieville, and I wanted to know that she didn't merit that assistance, as you were indicating."
Hon. Dolores Balderamos-Garcia
"I prefer not the comment personally on the individual, Marisol, for obvious reasons. But, I will say that the same thing I repeated, that some people were using a family member's Social Security Card. And that is why many of the names that we learned about it threw us off-guard because the assistance was not intended for that person. It was intended maybe for a family member or a friend."
Reporter
"And that's the case that happened there?"
Hon. Dolores Balderamos-Garcia
"Apparently, yes, that's what happened there, and I was railing up about it because I had to go and clarify with our people. But I want you to know, Marisol, in fairness, many of our ministry people work night and day to vet the applications. And I can stand here today and acknowledge to you that even some of our PUP representatives were not happy because the vetting process was not political. Now, what I said to my PUP colleagues or elected representatives, is I don't have control over the vetting process. I should never have control over that. However, in terms of the Food Assistance, we will try to be flexible, so that more persons that you really believe are the most vulnerable and most in need can get. But, please let me hasten to say that though that I made it clear to representatives that it's not just PUP that needs to receive. It has to be the most vulnerable."
