Chairman of the Public Administration and Appropriations Committee (PAAC) Dr Wykeham McNeill indicated Wednesday that the committee intends to push for an appeals process for workers who have missed out on the supporting employees with transfer (SET) cash grant offered by the Government under its COVID-19 assistance programme.
There is an element of mistrust that is now being engendered because of problems with the system,” the PAAC chairman said at Wednesday's meeting with officials of the finance ministry.
Financial Secretary Darlene Morrison explained that some people were not able to meet the deadline due to a number of issues, but noted that the ministry had been in discussions with representatives of the tourism sector, for example, on the issues surrounding both the SET and business employee and transfer of cash (BEST) cash grants.
She noted that some of the adjustments that the tourism sector had asked for in relation to BEST cash had led to some of the delays, adding that some of the problems encountered with the SET cash were not from the ministry's end, but some employers.
It was suggested that representatives of the committee meet with a team from the finance ministry and the various sector leaders to discuss the issues affecting the workers and preventing some from benefiting.