Saint Lucia distributes $1500 to 300 households as Post-COVID support

The government of Saint Lucia provided a $1500 payment to more than 300 Saint Lucian households. People received the payment as part of the Post-COVID Income Support Programme.

Notably, more than $450,000 has been paid out to more than 300 families. Each recipient was paid before the occasion of Christmas, i.e. on 23 December.

The COVID-19 pandemic hit the residents of the island nation to the extent that thousands of workers in the informal sector lost their jobs. Moreover, the informal workers need to start from scratch now as they did not get any advantage from the previous income support programme.

The Prime Minister of Saint Lucia, Philip J. Pierre leads a Cabinet of Ministers and government with a commitment to devise strategies to enhance the quality of life for the most vulnerable population.

Moreover, the disbursements for the Income Support Programme will continue into the new year. The Income Support Programme focuses on helping workers and providing financial assistance to households or people from the informal sector who lost their sources of income during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Further, the government of the island nation collaborated with the Caribbean Development Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank. The Income Support Programme is also eligible for children below 12, also who lost a parent or guardian due to COVID-19.

As criteria for receiving income, the applicants were asked to upload any proof of their income loss due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is to be noted the people who applied this criterion based on their illness were asked to upload their medical certificate or a letter from the doctor stating their illness due to COVID-19.

Furthermore, the people who applied on behalf of the children were told to upload the birth certificate of the children and the death certificate of the parent or guardian who died due to COVID-19, along with the verification certificates of guardianship or parenthood.