3,431 ESP approvals

A total of 3,431 approvals (beneficiaries) have so far been awarded under the Economic Stimulus Package.

Chairman of the ESP and PS of Finance Mckinnie Dentana told a radio talk back show yesterday that they had completed first round of approvals in all sectors and the number is expected to reach 3,431.

He said a total of 2,123 beneficiaries had been uploaded to the government’s ESP portal (https://solomons.gov.sb/tag/stimulus-package/) and about 1,300 will be done this week. It will complete the first round of approvals in all sectors.

According to Dentana, they will continued to do disbursement until March.

He adds they are now entering a stage of heavy approvals and processing of payments.

Dentana said the intension is to complete disbursement by March.

He encourages those whose names have appeared on the website as the beneficiaries to contact his office to complete the appropriate paper works so that they will sign contracts and receive their payments.

Dentana said the second stage which is the reviewing and the monitoring of the recipients will start in April.

The government last year agreed to a $309m stimulus package to support businesses stay a float and recover from COVID-19.

The ESP has also become very controversial with many complaining that it was very political leaving out genuine businesses.