No ID Required for Relief Support

Minister of Labour and Social Security, Hon. Pearnel Charles Jr., is reiterating that no identification is required for persons to receive Hurricane Melissa relief support.

“No one will be turned away from receiving a benefit because of a lack of documents… that is a Ministry policy. However, it is not difficult for us to appreciate that we want to have information on what we are doing, particularly as a Ministry that is under the rubric of having to provide accurate reports to the Auditor General and otherwise,” Mr. Charles Jr. said.

The Minister was speaking at a press conference held on November 20 at the Ministry’s North Street offices in downtown Kingston.

Mr. Charles Jr. further added that “under this type of emergency, we do not require a document for you to receive, for instance, a food package”.

“We do give assistance to persons when going through the household damage assessments. If it is that you have lost your documents, you can appreciate that we will need to know a certain type of information in order to advance that assessment and for you receiving the benefit,” he said.

He further outlined that the Ministry typically requires particular information when conducting household damage assessments; however, if persons are not able to provide such information, assistance is provided to help them obtain the necessary documentation.