Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation Minister Lynda Tabuya says poverty benefit schemes should be a temporary measure and not something where recipients are engaged long term.
She said her ministry would engage in programs to get recipients out of poverty and into becoming productive members of society.
“We are going to engage in quite vigorous programs to look at graduating our people out of poverty into productivity,” Ms Tabuya said.
“We are looking at programs to graduate our welfare recipients. It includes a pathway, so we are not kicking them off the program, if they should no longer be honoured.
“The poverty benefit scheme should really be a temporary measure to deal with shocks, like a job loss, like disasters.
“It really is a temporary measure. Not recipients being in the program for 10 years and many years.
“They really should have an expiry date on them being in the program, but it’s upon the Government, upon our ministry, to look at ways to help them and the pathway would be to provide them with education at TVET colleges through scholarships.”
She said the National Employment Centre (NEC) should also review its program to prioritise those on the poverty benefit scheme.
“I also believe that the NEC program should be reviewed. “In my opinion, those who are being sent on this program, we really should prioritise those on the poverty benefit scheme.
“They really should be the ones prioritised to be the first to go on that scheme because they really are the ones in need.
“So I am hoping for the review of that program, that we would prioritise our able-bodied man and women on the poverty benefit scheme to be the first ones to go on the NEC and to be assisted because they will assist their families from moving out of poverty.”
