The Government of Belize is getting ready to start vetting applications for the second round of aid to needy Belizeans under phase 2 of its Unemployment Relief Program.
The application portal opened up a week ago, and 49 thousand persons have already applied.
To provide an update on the program, and to answer a few of the frequently asked questions, Dr. Carla Barnett, the Labour Minister of State who is in charge of the roll-out, appeared this afternoon on Ask the Experts.
Here's her outline of the current state of affairs:
Hon. Dr. Carla Barnett - Minister of State, Labour, Local Government, Rural Development
"The Unemployment Relief Program, Phase 2, opened for applications a week ago, and we've had quite a number of applications already accepted in the system. The last I counted, it was upwards of 49 thousand people [who] have already applied. And so, we've already begun the process of sifting out and pulling out the ones that are clearly well-prepared, and everything, and following up on those that require further information to be provided. But, people are asking questions. People are passing on to us some of the issues that they're having, but we expect that roll out reasonably smoothly, and we should see approvals and payments begin to be made by the end of this week, or the latest, the beginning of next week."
"We have spent so far 35 million [dollars] on COVID unemployment relief. In this second phase, we have divided it up differently, and we now have 14 million that's earmarked specifically for unemployment relief, and 14 million that's allocated specifically for small and medium enterprises, that's intended to support the retention of unemployment. So, it's not only payment for not working, but also to help businesses to keep employment alive."
Dorian Pakeman - Host
"What are the qualifications for the Unemployment Relief Program? Who qualifies?"
Hon. Dr. Carla Barnett
"The persons who have lost their employment as a result of the impact of COVID-19. That's the definition, yes, and that could be somebody who works for somebody else, meaning they're an employee. And we have a lot of applications coming particularly from the tourism sector still. And then, you can also be a self-employed person, providing goods and services as a self-employed person. And again, it would have to be that you lost your ability to earn your income in your self-employed activity, because of COVID. The bottom line is that it should be because of COVID."
Dorian Pakeman
"How many people will be helped in this phase of the program?"
Hon. Dr. Carla Barnett
"As many as we can. We have 14 million directly to unemployed persons who lost their jobs or cannot work because of COVID, and then there's 7 million that we're channeling through the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, for persons who employers would like to keep on, but are in danger of having to lay them off. So, we put that 7 there. And in putting there, we're expecting that the employers will also be paying their social security contributions so that they remain current with Social Security."
Dorian Pakeman
"Will there be an increase in employee benefit rates, or is it the same amount?"
Hon. Dr. Carla Barnett
"It's the same amount. It's $150 every 2 weeks, for 6 payments, so that's 3 months."
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