Welfare Dept changes tack amid mounting pleas for help
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February 9, 2021
Increasing applications to the Welfare Department are pushing management of the state-run agency to adjust in an environment where face-to-face consultation is discouraged.
Chief Welfare Officer Deborah Norville revealed that online applications have tripled in just a week as the department embraces technology to improve efficiency and ease the strain on its already backed-up telephone lines.
Scores of persons facing eviction, mounting utility bills, empty cupboards, and generally stretched resources are said to be responsible for the surging applications in the midst of increasing joblessness.
“Up to last week we had 600 applications online, then you had a backing up of the telephone calls. People are trying to call in and officers are trying to call out, so there are some connectivity issues. I am hoping that with the weight it is under, that the electronic system currently in use holds up,” said the Chief Welfare Officer.