Persons 65 years and older will no longer have to visit social welfare centres to prove they are alive before receiving welfare pensions.
Minister of the People Glenn Ramadharsingh described the replaced system as repulsive and horrific. Instead, social welfare officers must now visit the homes of thousands of elderly people and take their fingerprints. What could go wrong?
Mr. Live Wire is an avid news reader who translates media reports for persons who can handle the truth. And satire. Unlike Jack Nicholson, he rarely yells.
i am afraid that a wholesale visitation plan will just lead to more mismanagement of resources. i would prefer that more emphasis be placed on making existing systems efficient and user-friendly than on introducing new services which we know will be just as inefficient as the current ones.
I would suggest that special arrangements be made for those individuals who cannot conveniently go to the centres because of physical or other challenges. However, I see no reason why healthy welfare recipients cannot visit a centre twice per year. There was too much fraud in the past when dead people continued to be issued payments, which were often fraudulently converted by dishonest persons.