Persons urged to contact Labour Ministry’s parish offices for status on ROOFS benefits
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Labour and Social Security Minister, Pearnel Charles Jr., is advising persons who have not yet received benefits under the Restoration of Owner or Occupant Family Shelters (ROOFS) Programme to contact the Ministry’s parish offices.
He was speaking during a recent Ministerial Update with Chief Executive Officer of the Jamaica Information Service (JIS), Giovanni Dennis, at the Ministry’s North Street offices in Kingston.
ROOFS is a $10-billion programme to support households impacted by Hurricane Melissa.
Persons receive grants of between $75,000 and $500,000 to help with rebuilding or repair works based on assessments conducted by the Ministry.
Charles Jr. said that persons who have been assessed and have not yet received benefits are being engaged to resolve administrative issues.
“We are out in the field and we are working with the members of parliament, councillors and community leaders to identify those persons,” he told JIS News.
“We have called them in… to advise them of what the issue is. It can be as simple as a TRN (Tax Registration Number) issue. In that case they just bring us the actual TRN card to verify the name spelling and the number. Where there is an issue that is more complex, we may have to visit the site location and engage them directly to ask some questions. What we tell them to do is to go to your parish office, call, email, advise us, engage us, and we will support you to be verified so you can be rectified,” he encouraged.
The labour minister said that the ROOFS programme remains at the forefront of the Hurricane Melissa recovery effort.
“Remember, we are talking about a Category-Five, unprecedented major disaster. Our hope is that we will be able to work with the remaining potential beneficiaries to rectify their issues as quickly as possible, hopefully within the next few months… . It requires us to be on the ground and for there to be consistent, constant communication and collaboration,” he pointed out.
- JIS News
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