Minister of Labour and Social Security Pearnel Charles Jr says family members who require assistance to bury their loved ones who died due to Hurricane Melissa can access support from the Ministry of Labour and Social Security through its Rehabilitation Programme, which offers funeral grants to the most vulnerable.

An average payout of $80,000 is given to individuals based on assessments.

Established by a Cabinet decision in 1972, the Rehabilitation Programme provides assistance in the form of grants to individuals in need of social assistance for compassionate purposes or who can improve their economic base through income-generating projects.

Charles Jr shared at a Jamaica Observer Press Club last week that while the programme was not designed to provide support in relation to Hurricane Melissa, it is fulfilling requests related to the catastrophic event.

“It’s something that we do all year round, we provide that support. However, it will inevitably be used more now for people who require support connected to Melissa because this is the situation of relevance as it is now. We have just received some additional support from the last Supplementary [Estimates of Expenditure] because we project an increase in the request for support, not just for funeral grants…

“As we have done in the past, persons who contact us and ask for support, each individual case is assessed, and support is given based on that evaluation,” he said.

Already, the ministry is receiving more requests for assistance.

“We have seen an uptick in terms of people requesting support, not just for funeral grants but just general support related to Hurricane Melissa, and so far we have been able to give significant support to the Rehabilitation Programme, which was actually extinguished, which is why we had to ask for additional supplementary funding. It was finished because of the expected increase in the west for funeral grants and whatever other compassionate support,” he explained.

While he could not state the number of requests, he said: “It was enough that it extinguished our normal rehab allocation, and we had to ask for more.”

According to a 2024 Sectoral Debate presentation, a total of 3,729 grants valued at over $207.76 million were distributed in 2023 under the programme.

Charles Jr explained that in the case of funeral grants a criteria is established for the level of support.

“It depends on the status of the deceased. If the person was a National Insurance Scheme (NIS) contributor, the support you get, in terms of the level of support, depends on what category the deceased falls in. For persons who are requiring that support, most of them write to us or attend the parish office or [come] to our offices, and they would bring the necessary documentation, like the death certificate. They would explain their circumstances, why they need support, and then, based on the evaluation, the circumstance is assessed and support is provided depending on the categorisation of the deceased,” said Charles Jr.

According to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security’s website, a funeral grant is a benefit payable on the death of an NIS pensioner in receipt of retirement (old age), invalidity, employment injury disablement, widow/widower benefit or his/her spouse; or an NIS contributor who has satisfied the required contribution conditions or his/her spouse; or an employee whose death was as a result of injuries sustained in insurable employment or a disease prescribed by the National Insurance Act.

The minimum NIS contribution required is either 10 weeks of every year that the deceased was working, 26 contributions in the year prior to death, or 52 contributions in the two years prior to death.

Charles Jr noted that individuals who were not contributors can still apply and “can still get some support based on evaluation of what your circumstance is”.

Funeral grant application forms are available at the ministry’s parish offices islandwide and online at www.mlss.gov.jm. Individuals seeking to claim are required to provide proof of death, such as the death certificate, order for burial, medical certificate of cause of death, or post-mortem report.

The undertaker’s receipt or invoice is required for payment, and all payments after the date of death, which include pension order books with vouchers with payable dates after the date of death, cheques, and electronic payments after the date of death. Failure to return all payments after the date of death will result in the sum of these payments being recovered from the funeral grant.

A marriage certificate or proof of common law relationship, where the spouse’s contributions will be used, is also required.