Landowners more dependent on assistance

Many strong, healthy people are asking for Social Welfare assistance and many of them are landowners.

That is the revelation from the Social Welfare Minister Dr Jiko Luveni while addressing guests at the World Population Celebrations, who said right now there are approximately 27,300 people receiving monthly allowances from the Welfare Department.

Dr Luveni said government allocates $20 million annually towards this service and added it is estimated that by 2010, the Suva-Nausori corridor will have 15,000 squatter households with 100,000 people, and this is an indication of people that will be in our poverty statistics in the near future and that based on current trends, people will continue to seek social welfare assistance.

Dr Luveni said the Government's Strategic Framework for Change under Pillar 8 of the People's Charter calls for reducing poverty level by 2015, and this will be a daunting task but not insurmountable.

She said they do not want Fiji to become a social welfare society and people must work for their survival and young people must explore other options for employment and not be dependent on government alone.