NEWLY appointed Minister of Labour and Social Security Mike Henry confirmed yesterday that the ministry is reviewing the control system for applicants seeking PATH grants under the COVID-19 Allocation of Resources for Employees (CARE) Programme.

“As soon as we have completed the review, which is being undertaken with a view to strengthening the relevant controls to prevent a recurrence, we will inform the auditor general,” Henry told the Jamaica Observer at Gordon House yesterday.

The issue is the first to face the new minister who, on Wednesday, replaced the former Minister of Labour and Social Security, Shahine Robinson, who died on May 29.

Auditor General Pamela Monroe Ellis, in her second report on the handling of the benefits offered by the Government under the CARE programme, which supports Jamaicans suffering economically from the COVID-19 pandemic, recommended that the ministry takes steps to ensure that only legitimate beneficiaries who have satisfied all the requisite criteria are paid the COVID-19 PATH grants.

The benefits are paid to individuals who are currently registered under the Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH), offering a conditional cash transfer apparatus funded by the Government and the World Bank, to deliver benefits by way of cash and bursary grants to the most needy and vulnerable in the society since 2002.

According to the report, which was tabled in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, the ministry administers PATH, using a Beneficiary Management Information System (BMIS), to maintain and manage the PATH beneficiaries. Applications for PATH are entered on the BMIS at the 13 parish offices islandwide.

The auditor general said that her department conducted a review of the payment of the COVID-19 PATH grant under the system, to determine whether only qualified and legitimate PATH beneficiaries were benefiting from the CARE programme.

“We found that an additional 8,933 beneficiaries were added to the May 2020 payroll, resulting in an increase of $58,770,400 in approved benefits over April 2020. Our review of the beneficiary information in the BMIS revealed that only 3,145 or 35 per cent of the 8,933 additional beneficiaries had ‘registered’, indicating that they had met all criteria for the PATH…and had submitted the required documents and signed the requisite agreement,” the report said.

“In response to our audit finding, MLSS [Ministry of Labour and Social Security] placed a hold on the payment for the 8,933 beneficiaries and conducted a review to determine the actual eligibility status of each of the additional persons,” it added.

The ministry subsequently reported that 776 terminated individuals were “inadvertently included in the May 2020 payment…due to a glitch in the Beneficiary Management Information System”. A total amount of $5,413,100 was approved for payment in May 2020 in relation to the 776.

MLSS also acknowledged that 4,354 new beneficiaries did not sign the Agreement Letter, as required by the PATH Operations Manual, but they satisfied the other requirements of the programme for eligibility.

The ministry indicated that for the May 2020 payment, “the requirement to sign the Agreement Letter was relaxed owing to social distancing, reduced office hours and other measures implemented by the Government in response to the COVID-19 pandemic”.

The ministry also advised that arrangements are currently being made for the beneficiaries to sign the Agreement Letter. The ministry also indicated that 660 of the beneficiaries added in May 2020 relate to applicants who successfully completed the reapplication process, but who did not re-sign an Agreement Letter.

The auditor general said that, in light of the discrepancy with the 776 individuals who were inadvertently included in the May 2020 payment list, the ministry should review its systems to ensure that the controls in place to enforce the eligibility requirements for PATH beneficiaries are operating effectively to reduce the risk of irregular or erroneous payments.

She recommended that the MLSS take the necessary steps to ensure that only legitimate beneficiaries, who have satisfied all the requisite criteria, are paid the COVID-19 PATH grants.