PATH problems highlighted as town hall consultations begin
Woman, 88, taken off PATH after being mistakenly thought dead
THE SERIES of town hall consultations on the Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH), by Labour and Social Security Minister Pearnel Charles Jr, kicked off on Wednesday in Browns Town, St Ann with the highlighting of problems that beneficiaries are facing.
The consultations are a precursor to planned improvements to the services offered by PATH, which will be done through a comprehensive overhaul of the programme.
In the end, it is expected that issues around the selection, evaluation, and appeal processes will be dealt with, therefore ensuring that families requiring benefits are accurately identified and supported.
Several of these issues were brought to the fore at Wednesday’s meeting.
One woman, Frances Jackson, of Watt Town in the parish, told the meeting that her 88-year-old mother was taken off the PATH without her knowledge after administrators of the programme in St Ann recorded her as deceased.
Jackson later told The Gleaner that her mother had not received any funds in more than a year.
“Year before last December was the last one (cheque) she get,” Jackson said. “When she neva get it, mi guh down there and talk to [a representative]. Him say ‘Wha yuh mother name?’, and mi tell him. Him jus say to me, ‘Yuh mada dead’. Mi say, ‘wha yuh seh?’
“Him turn ‘round the computer and show me. Mi say to him, ‘Look here, nuh badda call dung dead pon mi mada!’”
Jackson said she has a 13-year-old grandson who was registered under PATH, but up to now he has not benefitted.
“Every time mi guh, mi cyaa get through,” she pointed out.
Despite the hiccup with her grandson, Jackson said the programme was running smoothly up until her mother’s ‘death’.
“I never have no problem; the only problem I have now is, mi hear say mi mada dead an ’she nuh dead yet,” Jackson said.
Jackson was directed by Permanent Secretary Colette Roberts Risden to an area where registration was being done, to speak with representatives from the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, which administers the PATH programme.
At the meeting, Alfred Thomas, principal of Browns Town High School, appealed to Charles to increase the amount of funding allocated to provide meals for students.
INCREASE NOT ENOUGH
Thomas said that, while he appreciated the increase, $250 is not enough to provide meals for the students on the programme.
While high school students are allotted $250 each, students at the infant level are given $150.
Thomas’ appeal echoes the sentiments expressed last October by Jacqueline Bryan, the president of the Jamaica Association of Social Workers, who appealed for the amount to be increased to $600 per student.
Well over 100 people turned out at the Methodist Church Hall where the function was held. Several people who took birth certificates with them in anticipation of getting registered for the PATH programme were facilitated.
One young woman, Alana West, of Alexandria, said she had travelled to Browns Town with the hope of registering her two children, ages 13 and seven, on PATH as she said she was suffering financial hardship.
Meanwhile, there were complaints that some people who shouldn’t be on the programme, because they were not needy, were listed, while others who genuinely needed assistance were not registered despite making several efforts.
Verification of poverty level was also deemed a problem by some complainants.
“Mi know PATH is fi poor people, but when dem come ah ask if yuh have stove, mi nuh understand. Every house have a stove, if we nuh have stove how we nyam?” one man pointed out to The Gleaner.
“Mi understand when dem ask bout big screen TV and dem tings deh, but stove? No, man.”
According to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, PATH, which is funded by the Government of Jamaica and the World Bank, is aimed at delivering benefits by way of cash grants to the most needy and vulnerable in the society.
Currently, more than 350,000 people benefit from PATH.