DILI, 17 december 2020 (TATOLI) – Government’s Ministry of Solidarity and Social Inclusion (MSSI) has completed the $200 of Government backdated payments to 2,708 legible families across the country.
“The payments were ended last week. We are waiting for the MSSI team to reconcile the data from bank with reports from each municipality, ” The General Director of the MSSI, Rui Manuel Gago Exposed, told TATOLI, at his office in Caicoli.
Exposto said before the payments were made, that, the bills were transferred through Timor-Leste National Commercial Bank (BNCTL).
However, he recalled that, some of the families still yet to receive the financial aid from the government due to technical fault.
“The perspective of the payments to households cannot be politicized. It is not the fault of the Government; we were telling the local government to disclose the list of beneficiaries from every villages. Therefore, it is up to community leaders to solve problems of those who are not yet receiving the support “He said.
It is recalled that in may 27, 2020 Timor-Leste government has allocated $63.6 million in financial aid for some 318,302 families struggling with the COVID-19 downturn.
The money will come from the $150 million COVID-19 Fund, approved by the National Parliament in april, and overseen by the Integrated Crisis Management Centre (CIGC).
The families will each receive US $100 per month, for up to three months.
The 2,708 households were not on the list during the first period of backdated payments, and the Director of MSSI Rui Exposto promised to give the priority to those families whose names were not on the lists during the first period of payments and they will be included in the payment of the second period.
Journalist: Domingos Piedade Freitas
Editor: Zezito Silva
