TUESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1977
$600 MILLION PAID OUT IN PUBLIC ASSISTANCE OVER PAST SIX YEARS
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OVER THE PAST SIX YEARS, ABOUT 250,000 PEOPLE HAVE RECEIVED CASH PAYMENT AMOUNTING TO $600 MILLION UNDER THE PUBLIC ASSISTANCE SCHEME, SAID MR. LU YU-HUA, HEAD OF THE SOCIAL SECURITY DIVISION OF THE SOCIAL WELFARE DEPARTMENT TODAY (TUESDAY).
SPEAKING AT THE LUNCHEON MEETING OF THE LIONS CLUB OF LION ROCK, HE SAID THAT THESE FIGURES DID NOT INCLUDE THE 75,000 CASES FOR DISABILITY AND INFIRMITY ALLOWANCES WHICH PROVIDE A SMALL PENSION AIMED AT HELPING THE DISABLED AND THE ELDERLY TO LIVE IN THE COMMUNITY AND REDUCE THE BURDEN ON THE IR FAMILIES.
AS THIS HUGE EXPENDITURE CAME FROM PUBLIC FUNDS AND THE PURPOSE OF PUBLIC ASSISTANCE WAS INTENDED TO HELP THOSE WHO WERE LEAST ABLE TO HELP THEMSELVES, MR. LU SAID: +WE HAVE TO SET STANDARDS TO GOVERN THE LEVELS OF ASSISTANCE, ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA AND METHODS OF ADMINISTRATION.
+ IN CONSIDERING THIS, WE NEED TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THE AVAILABLE RESOURCES, THE LEVEL OF WAGES AND THE EXPENDITURE PATTERN OF THE POOR FAMILIES.
HE POINTED OUT THAT IF THE AMOUNT OF ASSISTANCE WAS SET AT TOO HIGH A LEVEL, IT WOULD TEND TO FOSTER DEPENDENCY. ON THE OTHER HAND, THE RECIPIENTS' BASIC NEEDS WOULD NOT BE MET IF THE AMOUNT WAS SET TOO LOW.
+ IF RULES ARE NOT PROPERLY LAID DOWN AND ENFORCED, SOME PEOPLE MIGHT TAKE ADVANTAGE, THUS GIVING RISE TO FRAUD. IF THEY ARE TOO STRICTLY APPLIED, THEY WOULD LOSE FLEXIBILITY AND TEND TO BECOME TOO HARSH.+
TURNING TO THE IMPROVEMENT ON THE PUBLIC ASSISTANCE SCHEME PROPOSED IN THE GREEN PAPER ON SOCIAL SECURITY DEVELOPMENT RECENTLY PUBLISHED, MR. LU SAID THAT THE PROVISION OF AN 'OLD AGE SUPPLEMENT' OF $100 TO PUBLIC ASSISTANCE RECIPIENTS AGED 60 AND ABOVE UNTIL THEY COULD QUALIFY FOR THE OLD AGE ALLOWANCE AT 70 SHOULD BE MOST WELCOME.
+FOR A 60-YEAR-OLD PERSON WHO CANNOT MAKE A LIVING, HE IS NOW ENTITLED TO $180 OF BASIC PUBLIC ASSISTANCE A MONTH WHICH WILL BE INCREASED TO $200 IN FEBRUARY NEXT YEAR, PLUS ANOTHER $63 A MONTH AS RENT. IF THIS PROPOSAL IS ACCEPTED, THEN WITH EFFECT FROM APRIL, HE WILL BE ELIGIBLE FOR ANOTHER $100 AS AN OLD AGE SUPPLEMENT, MAKING A TOTAL OF $363 A MONTH.+
WITH REGARD TO THE LONG-TERM SUPPLEMENT GIVEN TO THOSE DEPENDENT ON PUBLIC ASSISTANCE FOR MORE THAN 18 MONTHS, MR. LU SAID THAT DIFFERENT VIEWS HAD BEEN EXPRESSED ON THE 18-MONTH PERIOD.
/FURTHERMORE, SOME .....