News this week that our social services received a boost to the tune of $8.3 million is extremely welcomed. The European Union (EU) made the hefty donation that will supplement Government’s Social Protection Policy and Strategy programme.On receiving the funds on Wednesday, Minister of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs Kirk Humphrey said: “It is clear to me, given the pressures that came to bear on the system, that this is necessary support. You may appreciate that in the last year, the support that the Welfare Department has had to offer persons in terms of the need to be able to respond to them, we were averaging, in terms of national assistance, around $900,000 to $1 million a year, and now we are averaging around $900,000 a month in support. So you would see that our capacity to respond has been under some pressure.”
