THE Division of Health, Wellness and Social Protection, through the Realisation of Economic Achievement (REACH) programme, distributed over $153,000 in grants on April 24 at the division in Scarborough. Secretary Dr Faith Brebnor advised the grant recipients to take advantage of the opportunities available through the programme.
She said some recipients received either $10,000 or $15,000, but the grants were an investment into the people of Tobago to help them develop their business.
"One of the reasons you are here now, versus being here six months ago, to get you to this point, it was truly because we needed to make sacrifices and it was truly because we needed to decide: do we pay the $150,000 here or do we do $150,000 worth in home repairs or do we do $150,000 worth of food. That is the kind of decision that we had to make to get to this point.”
REACH, she said, falls under the social protection component of the division. The programme provides individuals with grant funding to establish micro-enterprises or to support already established micro-enterprises as a means of assisting them to gain economic independence and self-sufficiency.
“We’ve recognised that people come in with specific needs, but when we do the assessment, we may recognise that you may come in with this one thing, but we see that you may need help with this other side.”
The division’s assistant secretary, Megan Morrison, said the grant represents more than just a financial transaction, as it is a direct investment in the resilience, creativity and ambition of the people. Each recipient, she said, was required to sign an agreement to participate in training opportunities offered by the division.
“This training is not a formality, it is critical as part of the process. It is how we ensure that this investment doesn’t end here, but continues to yield returns in your businesses, your household and your communities – Tobago, by extension.”
Director of the Social Protection Unit Hanif Benjamin urged the recipients to start thinking about economic innovation.
“In Tobago and like many other small islands, the informal economy is a powerful economy, but we are not regulating it, we are not talking about it. The plan is to bring the informal economy together to teach you, to guide you, to give you the developmental tools so that you can ensure that this informal economy stands and adds economic development and value to the Tobago space.”
He told them to develop beyond a day-to-day income.
“You need to go to the bank and say, 'For the next year, I would be making $1.2 million and for the next three years I’ll be making $4.5 million.'
"You must be able to go to the bank and say I want a car on my business name, because the bank must be so satisfied that your informal economy has legs it can stand and move. So this grant, a small drop in the ocean, let us take this and begin to sow seeds of economic innovation.”
