Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama says rather than subject the nation to a far more severe socioeconomic situation, they will continue to care for those in need with the resources they have.
Bainimarama says people in the formal sector who cannot work are receiving unemployment benefits and in total, Government has directly paid out over $161 million to nearly 115,000 people in the formal sector.
He says people in the informal sector, for the first time have received $22 million in assistance through the $90 and $50 payments adding in total, that support has reached around a quarter million people.
The Prime Minister adds that another $30 million in assistance has gone to 5,000 micro, small and medium enterprises that qualified for concessional loans.
He says for the most good to be achieved, that assistance must go where it matters most.
Bainimarama also says after they opened assistance for those in the informal sector, they received over 282,000 applications and despite clear instructions about who can apply, more than 58,000 of these individuals were found to be already be receiving some form of government assistance.
He adds they are not letting anyone double-dip.
The Prime Minister says assistance must go where it is genuinely required and he is asking people to please respect that.
He says this is a difficult time, those seeking more than needed are taking directly from the pockets of the most vulnerable Fijians.
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