Saint Lucia: Income Support Programme (ISP) 2023 begins on Sept 13

Castries, Saint Lucia: The government of Saint Lucia begun its latest Income Support Programme (ISP) 2023 on September 13. The programme is a project tiled under the “Safety Nets for Vulnerable Population Affected by the Coronavirus.”

According to government of Saint Lucia, the programme has been spearheaded by the Ministry of Equity, Social Justice and Empowerment. The project will be financed by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and administrated through the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB).

As per the update, major aim of this programme is to provide the financial assistance to the people who are in informal sector and has been experiencing lingering challenges of COVID-19 pandemic. It was further highlighted that it will not benefit from any cash transfer programs.

The government of Saint Lucia has also set criteria in to consideration, which is:

The individual must be non-NIC contributors, who has –
Lost employment or the source the because of COVID-19, or
Received no salary because of prolonged illness due COVID-19 virus, and
Did not benefit from any previous COVID-19 support programs i.e., Economic Relief Programme (ERP) or Income Support Programme (ISP) in 2020.
Households applying on behalf of a child/ward aged 12 and under whose parent/guardian’s demise was deemed a COVID-19 death or COVID-19-related death.

As per the government, the beneficiary should have upload a relevant document to according to the situation.

For Criterion A1 – the applicants must publish a letter of redundancy or any other proof of income loss due to COVID-19.

For Criterion A2 – the applicants must upload a medical certificate or a letter from a doctor stating illness due to COVID-19.

For Criterion B – applicants must upload the birth certificate of the child or children and the death certificate of the parent or guardian who died due to COVID-19 as well as means of verification of guardianship or parenthood.

In this regards, Dr Charmaine Hippolyte-Emmanuel – the Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Equity, Social Justice and Empowerment, stated that the commitment of government has been underscored by the Income Support Programme 2023. This step ensures that no one is left behind as we navigate the aftermath of the pandemic. This programme is a testament to the Ministry’s mandate of ensuring the overall welfare of our citizens.

The government has outlined that the eligible applicants will receive one-time payment of $1500 per household. The rollout will officially began from September 13, 2023 and will be running for six weeks. The deadline for the submission of the completed application forms is October 30, 2023. It outlined that to apply, visit https://www.cognitoforms.com/GITS1/GOSLIS2.