T&T government tightens social welfare programme

The Trinidad and Tobago government says it will remove nearly 6,000 persons from a programme that provides support for vulnerable members of society after a review found that one out of five recipients did not meet the criteria for receiving government aid, according to a report on www.cananews.net.



Dr Amery Browne, minister of social development, declaring that \"the days of the Smart Man Card were over,\" stated that Cabinet had approved additional funding for the programme referred to as the Targeted Conditional Cash Transfer Programme (TCCTP).



The programme provides support for vulnerable members of society by transferring funds to a debit card for the purchase of basic food items.

Browne said there were some cardholders who were avoiding Ministry officials or were not available when the survey was done.



He said those persons would be removed from the database within three months unless their case is reviewed, and he urged persons who really need the support to contact the Ministry by September 18.



Browne told reporters that many of the loopholes that allowed persons to take advantage of the system were closed and that the criteria for accessing the programme had been updated.



He said that the financial benefit of the programme, introduced here prior to the 2007 general election, would be increased by nearly 35 per cent.