WITH the touch of a button, during the weekly post-Cabinet media briefing on Wednesday, Minister of Labour and Social Security Pearnel Charles Jr demonstrated how Jamaicans, who had their houses destroyed during Hurricane Melissa last October, received messages alerting them where to claim their Restoration of Owner and Occupant Family Shelter (ROOFS) payments.

Hours later Charles Jr was in Trelawny where he announced that $366 million has been distributed to more than 1,300 beneficiaries in the parish.

Under the ROOFS Programme the ministry is set to distribute $10 billion to affected Jamaicans to assist them with rebuilding their homes and putting their roofs back on.

A total of $5.22 billion has been disbursed so far and Charles Jr urged the people who already received text messages notifying them of their various disbursements to redeem the benefit quickly as it will expire within three months.

“When you receive your text message or QR code, it is not to be put on the shelf or in your pockets for weeks. The QR code and text message will have an expiration date applied to it. We are doing this in batches. Today we finalised the first $5.22 billion. All of those persons in that $5.22 billion are paid. You must now move with a swiftness to go and redeem your material or for cash. Do not sit down and wait,” Charles Jr told the media briefing.

He underscored that his ministry is partnering with the Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency (MOCA) to ensure that the programme is above board.

“We have been collaborating with MOCA to ensure that the funds are being used for the appropriate means,” added Charles Jr as he reiterated that recipients fall under three categories — those with minor damage to the house who are given a $75,000 grant, major damage where the grant is $200,000, and people who suffered severe damage who get grants of $500,000.

According to Charles Jr, so far beneficiaries in the minor category have received $108 million, while $2.37 billion has been disbursed to people who suffered major damage, and $2.74 paid out to those in the severe damage category.

“For the minor category, it is a rehabilitation grant which means that you can use it to do whatever you want. Many of the persons in the minor category have already effected their repairs. However, they have to pay back that little loan, or buy back some shoes, or books, or a mattress, or something for the kitchen. Persons in the minor category can receive it in many different ways.

“For our pensioners — who we have prioritised — we have sent out thousands of direct deposits…and to other persons who came to our ceremonies and received prepaid cards. You have direct deposit and prepaid and the other persons will receive a text message that guides them on what to do.

”For the major and severe, it must be for repair of the home. That is the portion that is restricted and that is the portion where you have to go to one of our stores. We have a list of hardware locations and you will also receive a list that guides you,” said Charles.

He pointed out that when beneficiaries receive their text message with a QR code, it will direct them to a list of approved hardware stores they can visit to purchase supplies.

Charles highlighted that the list of hardware is undergoing frequent updates as the programme unfolds.

“Persons in a number of places have said we don’t have enough locations. If you look on that list now, it has been expanding on a daily basis. We have been on-boarding more persons to ensure your convenience and to make sure you have access to as many locations as possible. It is not free for us to on-board, so we have to be very careful and clear with who we are on boarding.

“Those persons are also guided by the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce to ensure they are tax-compliant and all of those things. A few persons have been sending me messages. One person sent me a message to say they started a hardware store and they would like their hardware to be added to the list of locations. When I asked when they started this hardware, the person said ‘yesterday’. My response was ‘Amen,’ and I ended the conversation there,” Charles Jr said.

Once they have their QR codes and a Government-issued identification card, beneficiaries may go to an approved hardware store or any participating location which also includes cash out locations.

When they go to approved locations, special machines installed there will read their QR code and will pull up their information on a monitor. Cashiers at the locations will take a photograph of the beneficiaries and their ID cards. On the back end, the ministry will be able to look on a dashboard and see whether each beneficiary used the service and what items they purchased.

The cashier at the hardware store will also take a photo of the receipt which will be uploaded to a system to be read by an Artificial Intelligence programme that will send an image of each receipt to the ministry to indicate what goods were purchased by beneficiaries.