The Government is also reporting tonight that they are still making
payments to needy Belizeans under the Unemployment Relief Program.
Between April 3rd, when the program opened for applications, and April
24th, when all new applications were suspended, a total of 81,052
persons applied.
To date, a total of 43,726 applications have been approved and passed
on to the Social Security Board for payment. Of that amount, 42% are
for persons who were laid off from their jobs. 25% are for
self-employed persons who lost their work and income. 33% of those are
for persons who applied as long-term unemployed. Applications will
continue to be processed, and the Government expects that in the next
few days, the total approved applications should increase to around
50,000.
SSB has processed and approved payments for 40,927 persons or 94% of
approved applicants under the program. Those who haven’t been paid yet
are mostly due to incorrect banking information. A solution should have
been worked out today for those being affected by this delay.
Of the pending applications, about 16,000 persons applied as laid off
due to COVID-19. Approximately 4,500 of these applicants did not
provide information on their employers or their jobs. About 3,500
applications came from persons whose employers have confirmed that they
did not lay off any staff, or they were in categories such as grocery
stores, where employment appeared to be the least affected by COVID-19.
Out of 10,900 applications from self-employed persons, 9,200 applicants
did not provide any information pertaining to the nature of their work.
There are also 8,600 applications remaining for long-term unemployment
relief.
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