The Tribune

By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

SOCIAL Services and Urban Development Minister Obie Wilchcombe said yesterday that some 4,000 Bahamians who were receiving assistance from the government’s national food distribution programme have now been added to his ministry’s aid list since the food initiative ended.

According to Mr Wilchcombe, those numbers are expected to increase in the coming days as some 18,000 households were being assisted in the programme in its final phase.

To meet the demand, he said officials are working to introduce a new food programme to replace the former one, which officially ended earlier this week.

 “I think we’re inheriting about 4,000 I’m being told, but I expect the number to increase but we’re putting together a programme that would be systemic in that nobody would be left out,” he said before going to a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday. “This 4,000 who we’re inheriting from the programme…that’s in addition to what we’re providing already.”

 Asked yesterday if the social agency is prepared to handle the influx, Mr Wilchcombe suggested that his ministry will have to be resourceful to meet the high demand.

 He also warned there will be budget cuts in certain areas to accommodate key social assistance initiatives.

 “We’re going to have to find ways to do it,” he said. “The reality is that the Bahamians are hurting. We’re not going to leave anybody behind. We’re going to go after taking care of the Bahamian people. We have to cut some costs (in) some places and in fact, we discovered that we’re renting buildings and we’re not even into the building at Social Services.

 “We’ve been renting since 2018 facilities that’s costing millions of dollars and we’re not in the building so you know we got to cut back. We’re going to look at exactly what’s going on and we’re going to fix it, but no Bahamian is going to be left behind in what we’re trying to do.”

 The national food distribution programme was one of several initiatives formed by the Minnis administration in 2020 to assist vulnerable Bahamians affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

 It was initially set to end in August of that year, but was later extended several times due to the high demand.

 Last week, Mr Wilchcombe questioned some of the choices taken by the Minnis administration relating to the programme, including its weekly cost that was pegged at some $768,000.

 “The difficulty is to me, well that’s Social Services’ responsibility so why do we need a next, second group to do it? Social Services can continue its programmes in providing food and support for the Bahamian people,” he said yesterday.

 He also responded to the food task force’s chair, Mrs Susan Larson who recently defended the food initiative and explained that “money goes quickly” when considering the 18,000 households still requiring food assistance this year.

 However, Mr Wilchcombe told reporters yesterday he still stands by his previous comments.

 “It’s okay, she can hit back, but I think whatever they did at the time was not in my view fully discussed to the extent that we were (delivering) what the Bahamian people really required and if you have to spend that much, they could consider another approach to it,” Mr Wilchcombe added.

 “But maybe in the moment of desperation and (in the) moment of trying to find a plan, they came up with that plan but that’s okay. I don’t mind the criticisms. All I know is we’re going to provide Bahamian people with the needs and we’re going to meet their demands.”

 Yesterday, Mr Wilchcombe was also asked if his ministry will seek to re-introduce visa cards that were used by the Christie administration for people eligible for Social Service benefits.

 To which he replied: “Absolutely, it should’ve happened a long time ago.”