The Tribune

By FARRAH JOHNSON

fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

ACTING Director of Social Services Lillian Quant-Forbes said recent documents circulating online from the “Ministry of Social Development and Family Services” listing various types of government grants have not been issued by the Department of Social Services in The Bahamas.

This past Sunday, a number of images listing various types of government assistance made their rounds on social media. While some Bahamians have been led to believe the figures quoted in the grants are available locally, Mrs Quant-Forbes confirmed this is not the case.

“The Department of Social Services in The Bahamas comes under the umbrella of the Ministry of Social Services and Urban Development, not the Ministry of Social Development and Family Services,” she explained.

“It is believed that the document may be applicable to Trinidad and Tobago whose dollar is valued much less than our Bahamian dollar.”

Mrs Quant-Forbes said while the Department of Social Services does offer “similar types of assistance,” the rates shown in the documents circulating on social media are not accurate.

“That document is coming from Trinidad and Tobago and so when you look at the rates that are being quoted there, the T&T dollar is valued 15 cents compared to the Bahamian dollar.

“So when people see these things saying thousands of dollars, then they say, ‘Okay we can go into social services and we can apply for that,’ but it is not the Ministry of Social Services and Urban Development.”