Prime Minister Holness Launches $800.0Mn Social Pension Programme

• Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, has officially launched the Government’s $800.0Mn Social Pension Programme, the first of its kind in Jamaica, which provides a guaranteed income for vulnerable persons 75 years and older. 
• He noted that apart from the COVID-19 Allocation of Resources for Employees (CARE) programme, and the Social and Economic Recovery (SERVE) programme, which are pandemic related, the new Social Pension Programme is the largest social protection initiative to be implemented by the Government since the introduction of PATH 20 years ago. 
• He also acknowledged that there are many elderly persons in need of financial support, who do not qualify for existing social welfare initiatives. The implementation of this programme for needy seniors is therefore crucial given the Government’s moral and social obligation to guarantee a minimum level of social protection for all citizens. 
• The introduction of the new Social Pension Programme will enable the government to reduce income inequality and promote a better quality of life for Jamaica’s older population.

(Source: JIS News)