Prime Minister Skerrit lauded once more his government’s decision to maintain the National Employment Programme (NEP) while announcing a monthly allocation of $120,000 to pay NEP workers in Grand Bay.
The prime minister’s disclosure coincided with the handing over of thirty residential units in Geneva, Grandbay this week.
“Every month we send $120,000 to Grandbay to pay for the NEP,” he said. “$3.5 million every month is spent on the National Employment Programme and in many countries in the world this is not an obligation like in the case in Dominica. This is by virtue of cabinet decision.”
According to Skerrit, his government maintained the NEP even when some “idiots” criticized the programme.
“This government remains committed to the NEP,” he asserted.
In June this year, the prime minister gave the assurance that his government would continue to support the NEP despite the country’s difficult economic situation which was being exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
He said in any circumstance where a country’s income or revenue is diminished, it will start making cuts and so under any other country or government, the NEP would have come to a crashing halt.
“But the government recognizes how important the NEP is to so many families across Dominica. That is the source of income for so many families to provide for their children,” Skerrit stated.
Opposition Leader Lennox Linton has promised to continue the NEP but in a different way, if his party were to form the government.
He said under a UWP administration the NEP will become a lot more than what it is right now in terms of preparing people for the world of work.
“The way the National Employment Programme runs right now which, essentially, is providing employment for people to clean the sides of the road and certain beautification initiatives, that’s not new,” Linton stated.
Opposition senator, Francisca Joseph, at the last budget debate, called for an impact evaluation of some of the social programmes implemented by the government, including the NEP, in order to determine the impact of such programmes on society.
The NEP was launched in December of 2013.
Disclaimer: The comments posted do not necessarily reflect the views of DominicaNewsOnline.com and its parent company or any individual staff member. All comments are posted subject to approval by DominicaNewsOnline.com. We never censor based on political or ideological points of view, but we do try to maintain a sensible balance between free speech and responsible moderating.
We will delete comments that:
See our full comment/user policy/agreement.