During a sitting of the St. Kitts and Nevis National Assembly on Friday, December 27, 2019, Senior Minister and Minister responsible for Social Security, the Honourable Vance Amory, shared that the St. Christopher and Nevis Social Security Board found favour with his request to have an extra month’s assistance payment made to the more than 350 beneficiaries.
“I can report that all those persons who are in that category of citizens, who depend on the assistance payment from Social Security, would have already received their cheques as a result of the persuasion of the Team Unity Administration,” Senior Minister Amory stated.
According to socialsecurity.kn, the official website of the St. Christopher and Nevis Social Security Board, Assistance Pension and Invalidity Assistance are paid monthly by the Social Security Fund under the category of Non-Contributory Pensions.
Assistance Pension is paid to persons over the age of 62 years who have not qualified for the regular Age Pension from Social Security. Invalidity Assistance is paid to persons between the ages of 16 and 62 years who are unable to work but do not qualify for the regular Invalidity Benefit from Social Security.
“In most part, these are people who are at the low end of the social-economic scale and can always benefit from some additional assistance,” Honourable Amory said. “… I trust that those persons would have been able to enjoy the Christmas season and have a little leftover for the New Year.”
The request to Social Security to enhance this month’s support for Non-Contributory Pensioners was in line with the government’s payment of a bonus salary to public sector employees in December. Statutory corporations were also encouraged to make gratuitous payments to their employees this month.
