Govt’s Rehabilitation Assistance Grant Tailored to Fuel Income-Generating Enterprises

Individuals or families seeking to undertake income-generating projects to improve their economic status, may receive assistance through the Ministry of Labour and Social Security’s Rehabilitation Assistance Grant initiative.

Through this programme, the Ministry provides a one-off grant of $85,000 to assist persons with small projects, so that they can provide for themselves and their families.

Acting Director for Disaster, Rehabilitation and Welfare Management in the Ministry, Jacqueline Shepherd, says the initiative aims to build people’s resilience and enable them to have a sustainable income.

“We call it a micro-business grant, and it is geared towards income-generating activities. One of the things that the Ministry wants to do is more than just giving people money… you want to build people’s resilience. If you are able to have a steady sustainable income that you can manoeuvre, its one way that you can improve your life and improve your social resilience,” she points out.

Persons looking to benefit from this facility should first have a good business idea and develop a business plan. Individuals seeking assistance often are interested in selling goods or groceries or engaging in chicken rearing.

“You must bring in an invoice, your ID and your Taxpayer Registration Number (TRN). Based on the nature of the business, you might need land tenure documents… [but] not all business ventures will necessarily [need this]. If I’m going to walk and sell [in] downtown [Kingston], I don’t need any land documents to prove that,” Ms. Shepherd explains.

“If I’m going to operate a chicken-rearing business from my house, then I must provide information to say I have a right to operate here, [that] I own it, I have access, I leased it, rented it, or whoever owns [the property] has given me permission to do so. Along with that, whatever licences are necessary for persons who are doing anything to do with food and certain cosmetology and certain business ventures, you must provide [that],” she adds.

Ms. Shepherd further explains that persons with business ideas must also prove that they need assistance.

“All our cases must be investigated and recommended by a social worker. The social worker will visit you at home, look at the business, say if you are capable, because anybody can come up with a grand idea. So, some of the specifics that we look for in those cases [are] do you have the market, does the person have the capacity to do the business, do they have the relevant documentation or the facility to operate this business, and their social circumstances are tied to that,” she outlines.

Regarding the business plan, Ms. Shepherd says, if needed, assistance can be provided by officers at the Ministry’s parish offices.

“Part of it is also that you have to do a business plan, because we really want to find out if this business will generate profit. It’s not because everybody is doing chicken rearing, I’m going to run into chicken rearing, and it will make profit. Persons are assisted to complete it. It’s just one page [outlining] the nature of the business, how much you think that you will make from it every week and, after a month, how much profit, your expenses and when you minus that, what’s your profit,” she further states.

“The Ministry is here to assist you but you must understand that you are not getting a loan, you’re getting a grant, so we have to verify certain information. But once that is verified and the application comes in, we will ensure that you get the support in order to move your life forward,” the Acting Director adds.

Ms. Shepherd points out that once the grant request has been approved, the money is disbursed to the supplier and then the Ministry conducts follow-ups.

“Once the person gets the grant, for us, it’s not you who are receiving the cheque. It’s being provided to the supplier, and you have actually taken the goods. Then at six weeks, three months, six months and a year, we continue to visit you to see that you do what you need to do with the Government’s money [in terms of] how the business is progressing [or] if you need [any] other support, and we provide that accordingly,” the Acting Director states.