PRIME Minister Dr Andrew Holness says the Government’s newly launched $1-billion Solidarity Programme is a direct response to the issue of social alienation among Jamaicans who have long been excluded from formal support systems.

Speaking at the official launch of the initiative on Wednesday at the Office of the Prime Minister, Holness acknowledged that while economic growth and employment figures may show national progress, many Jamaicans still feel forgotten and frustrated by their exclusion from the country’s social safety net.

“The gap in the social safety net as it relates to this issue of alienation would be those persons who are not captured at all in the social safety net. So, they get nothing from the State and they may very well be looking on and seeing their neighbour getting a social pension, their neighbour’s children getting Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) support and getting Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH), and they may not be on PATH themselves and they are wondering…‘What about me?’ And they may very well take antisocial positions relative to the State,” said Holness.

He warned that continued neglect of these individuals could contribute to wider social tensions.

“At the end of the day, if one set of people does very well and another set doesn’t do well it creates the inequality, it creates alienation, and it creates social tensions. So as a government, we have to pay attention to that,” he said.

The Solidarity Programme, which offers a one-time cash grant of $20,000 to 50,000 to the most vulnerable Jamaicans, is part of the Government’s broader effort to complete and expand the country’s social protection system.

However, the prime minister stressed that the programme is more than just a financial giveaway.

“There might be some who criticise the programme and say, ‘It’s only $20,000 and it’s one-off.’ That is where they don’t understand the programme. This is what is described as a conditional cash transfer; it is conditional on the person receiving the transfer to come forward and register in the social safety net so that you can continue with formal benefits over time — that’s what it is,” he explained.

Holness said the incentive was also designed to reach individuals who are often disengaged or distrustful of State institutions.

“So in completing our social safety net and social interventions we decided that we need to express solidarity to those persons who are not formally captured in either employment or social safety…So, we give an incentive to people who may be attitudinally opposed because they just feel society is against them and so we are going to have to reach out to them — and that is why the programme is designed as it is,” said Holness.

The programme will target a wide range of marginalised groups, including elderly individuals not receiving National Insurance Scheme (NIS) or PATH benefits, unemployed youth, persons with disabilities, informal and low-income workers, and medically indigent persons unable to afford health care. Special provisions will also be made for individuals without formal identification documents such as a birth certificate or Taxpayer Registration Number.

Minister of Labour and Social Security Pearnel Charles Jr, whose ministry will implement the programme, said the initiative is about restoring visibility and dignity to those long left behind.

“We will ensure that every beneficiary is not just given this one-time grant— that’s a big part but not the biggest part. The biggest part is for them to come into the system and be connected to the full spectrum of government services providing additional opportunities to bring them into formality, to get them the opportunity to have economic independence,” he said.