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TURKS AND CAICOS WEEKLY NEWS
May 30 - June 5, 2020
Premier Sharlene Cartwright Robinson said 11,400 applications were submitted
2,300 hospitality workers receive stimulus grant Others complain of mystery over declined applications BY OLIVIA ROSE A WHOPPING 2,300 tourism and hospitality workers have received their $1,200 economic stimulus grants from the Government, the premier revealed this week. Meanwhile, hundreds of others say they remain in the dark over applications that have been declined without specific reasons being given. Premier Sharlene Cartwright Robinson revealed the latest grant pay-out figures during a national address on Wednesday, May 20. She said that on May 8, the first batch of hospitality workers who were impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown received $1,200 into their bank accounts. The monetary assistance is aimed at mitigating the effects of the economic downturn in the Islands due to restrictions imposed to minimise the spread of the coronavirus. During her address, the premier explained that despite setbacks some 9,000 applications were vetted. “In all 11,400 have been submitted to the database for the employee stimulus package; of that, there have been over 2,500 duplications which have now been cleared. “The initial vetting of all the submissions have been completed and we have found that
approximately 3,000 were approved on the frontend to be paid. “Of the remaining 6,000 applications some 2,700 have been declined and another 3,300 have had to be further reviewed by the compliance team.” Some residents who are yet to receive their payments took to the premier’s official Facebook page to voice their frustration with the process. Providenciales resident Katherine Burchill said: “Can you please give us an idea of when we can expect a compliance officer to contact us? “At the very least you should be able to say before (end June) everyone will have been contacted.” Burchill said life is becoming increasingly difficult for many people who have been unemployed since the lockdown. “People can’t just keep on waiting in limbo not knowing. It’s been two months, many people have had zero income at all. It’s increasingly stressful having information drip fed to us.” Commenter George Luneas said: “It would be way easier if the Government prepares the cheques and people can pick them up with their identifications.” Meanwhile an outraged KD Delancy said: “This is unacceptable for all this run around for a onetime payment. “As locals have to qualify to the
moon and back for this government assistance, I almost don’t want it anymore.” In her address, the premier said scores of applications were submitted by applicants who are not employed in the tourism or hospitality sector and those applications were denied. In other cases, the required documents needed for validation purposes was not submitted. A significant number of applicants provided information that was erroneous or incomplete, resulting in extensive vetting, she added. “In this case, the majority of the applicants stem from conditions of work permit or permanent residence certificate (PRC) where the right to work requirements were not met. “Or that complete copies of work permit, PRC, residence permit spousal could not be seen. “When an application is sent to compliance, it is done so for one or more of the following reasons: a copy of one of the required documents have not been submitted or payment of NIB contributions could not be verified by the one of various means.” In addition to these hiccups encountered, the vetting process revealed that duplications numbered in the thousands. One person submitted an application close to 20 times. “Persons submitted expired work permits. Of those who would
have provided work permits that expired, some did not even supply a copy of a paid receipt for renewal. “We’ve had to ensure that persons found to be working, who are endorsed on a PRC, had a work permit to work legally in the TCI.” Hundreds of employees did not have a recent contribution history with the National Insurance Board, she added. “It is important to mention that although it is not the intention to withhold an employee’s benefit because NIB contributions were not paid on their behalf, because of the absence of a record, these are the things that took up a lot of the processors’ time in trying to pay the benefits expeditiously. “An overwhelming number of applicants filled in the application without the name of the company that employs them, using/ referencing only a supervisor’s name. “Except for enhanced due diligence conducted by calling the applicant directly or referring to NIB records, these applications cannot be processed to the payment stage.” Despite these constraints, the premier said the Government is closer to paying all eligible applicants. There are more than 20 people actively processing benefits, she said, and told applicants they will be contacted by compliance officers who will assist with
processing their applications. “This week, the compliance team is sending out notices for additional information. “You will be allowed to load any missing documentation by responding in the database with your unique identifier and date of birth. “For those applications that have been declined in the database, you will be subsequently advised of the reasons. “The processors will eventually get back to responding to those persons; but a declined application, generally means that the applicant was not eligible for benefits and for many reasons. “Due to the volume of declined applications, an inordinate amount of time has already been spent mulling through applications to find eligible persons, had it not been the case, eligible applicants could have been paid.” She said that applicants with applications with compliance or declined status will not need to initiate contact with the Ministry of Finance. “Applicants who made submissions already, are encouraged to wait for the contact from the compliance officer.” Cartwright Robinson cautioned those who have already submitted applications against submitting a new one since it will be considered a duplication and be placed at the back of the processing line. “All processing is being conducted through the database. Therefore, if an applicant submits required documentation by any other means, it will not progress.”
