Revise CARE device access
THE EDITOR, Madam:
THIS IS an open letter to the Ministry of Finance and Public Service regarding the newly implemented COVID19 Allocation of Resources for Employees (CARE) programme.
First of all, let me commend the Government on its strides to protect the country from the COVID-19 outbreak, as well as to earmark financial resources to assist the most vulnerable and needy people in our society.
I greatly anticipated the opening of the online wecare.gov.jm platform on Thursday morning, as I stood ready to assist those in the communities I serve, to apply for the benefits they may qualify for.
As a pastor, I am very well aware that most of whom the compassionate grants are geared towards do not possess smart devices and/or Internet access, to make the online application. The same may be true of some of the other categories. Besides, as userfriendly as the platform is, and as simple as the application process is, many of those individuals do not possess the basic technical skills to navigate online. Thus, it becomes necessary for them to be assisted by well-wishers.
In this regard, there needs to be a revision of the website, for it limits the number of applications from one location (IP address).
The error message I last got read, “Whoa! Requests from your location are coming in really close together. Pardon us while we enforce request distancing.” Also, there have been a number of glitches with the platform, perhaps because of the online traffic.
SECURITY MEASURES
I know that the intent of limiting the number of applications per device is to protect the programme from unscrupulous persons, but do remember that the information submitted for each applicant is verifiable and that monies will be sent to the applicant and not the person who does the signing up for him or her. Thus, there are security measures already in place.
I have young, willing technical personnel who are on standby to assist the people in the vicinity of Brown’s Town, to sign up for the assistance. So, I crave a revision of the number of attempts each device is allowed to make in signing up individuals. This will greatly benefit those who are truly in need and cannot do the same for themselves.
Thanks for your kind consideration. JERMAINE JOHNSON Senior Pastor, Brown’s Town District of Seventh-day Adventists jjohnson@njcadventist.org