ATM cards being distributed at Financial Complex to West Kingstown road cleaners

Residents of West Kingstown were gathered Saturday afternoon outside the Financial Complex in Kingstown to collect ATM cards through which they will receive payment for road cleaning work done earlier this month.

At about 5:30 pm, SEARCHLIGHT observed about three dozen persons standing outside the gates of the government building on Bay Street.

The programme, which began on August 9, came to an end on August 19 and employed approximately 6,000 people to clear gutters and roadsides all across St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG).

This is not the first road programme to be carried out in SVG, but this year, the work is being carried out as a component of the Volcano Eruption Emergency Project (VEEP), which is funded by the World Bank.

This component of the VEEP, which is valued at US$3 million,  is being referred to as the Labour Intensive Temporary Employment (LITE).

Workers employed with road gangs worked six-hour shifts for eight days and were paid $50 daily — four dollars more than the usual rate. Meanwhile jobbers, a single person employed to do one-off jobs in a day, were paid $250.

The cards are being distributed by members of staff of the Ministry of Economic Planning, the VEEP project and employees of the Bank of St Vincent and the Grenadines (BOSVG).

A government official told SEARCHLIGHT that the persons gathered outside the Financial Complex this afternoon are persons from West Kingstown who missed the previous collection date or who went previously to collect cards, but the cards were not ready.

The official said while the cards are being collected today, they cannot be used to withdraw money until Monday.

Cards were also distributed earlier today in Colonarie.