THA Chief Secretary Farley Augustine has revealed plans to do away the food card system.
Delivering a presentation at Thursday’s Plenary sitting, Assembly Legislature, Scarborough, Augustine said the THA’s goal is to establish an administrative support service platform called Service Tobago, in which each resident will eventually be assigned a digital identification number to access services online or in person.
“I will let this House know that we have already begun talks to move away from the food cards and to move to an e-wallet system, which means that we will no longer be using a very expensive initiative to maintain, and that pretty soon Tobagonians will be able to apply for these social services from their homes, be assessed by a social welfare worker within a quick time and receive the funding support they need without ever having to get up from where they live and spend the few remaining dollars they have to catch a transport to come into town,” he said, adding digitisation is the way of the future.
The distribution of food cards was a source of controversy during the last PNM administration. An Auditor General's report on the island's public accounts, for October 2019 to September 2020, revealed irregularities in the assembly's disbursement of $7.8 million worth of food cards.
Augustine also challenged each secretary in the executive council to deliver a suite of projects and programmes aimed at bringing immediate relief to Tobagonians, in keeping with the Progressive Democratic Patriots’ mandate.
“Madame Presiding Officer, leading up to the preparation of delivery of the budget for fiscal 2023, I intend to issue mandate letters, starting from the first of February, to every single secretary and assistant secretary.”
He added secretaries will be required to use the mandate letters as the basis to plan and implement projects and programmes related to the function of their divisions.
“Currently, we are in the process of finalising the policy prescriptions outlined in the PDP mandate. We plan to issue mandate letters to each secretary in line with PDP’s commitment to the people of Tobago to exercise prudence in the development and management of the Tobago economy.”
Augustine, who is also the Secretary of Finance, Trade and the Economy, said he intends to introduce in the Chamber, a full rollout of PDP mandates for the four-year period 2022-2026.
“I assure you when I issue these mandate letters, some things will happen.”
Some THA plans for first quarter of 2022:
Launch of smart app – Show Me A Road Tobago
Installation of traffic mirrors across the island.
Resurfacing work on the entrance of Pigeon Point Heritage Park.
Assessment, report and architectural design of the Gru Gru Patch bridge.
Inspection and improvement of drainage at James Street, Goodwood.
Widening of the carriageway at Signal Hill traffic lights
Complete development strategy for the rehabilitation of the Little Tobago and Plymouth jetties
Consultation for the redesigning of Scarborough
The post Chief Secr
