HCM City will give monthly allowances for local people who are affected by the pandemic.
People in HCM City receive gifts amid the Covid-19 outbreak
During a Q&A session on September 6, HCM City People's Committee Chairman Phan Van Mai answered various questions about the planning after September 15. Mai said that social distancing would still be implemented but could be eased in areas that were able to control the outbreak.
He went on to say that every person who had come to HCM City to work and study had contributed greatly to the city's growth. However, amid the pandemic, many have lost their jobs and face difficulties.
"We understand your hardships and we hope you can understand that we are doing our best to deal with those difficulties," Mai said.
HCM City previously issued support packages for seasonal workers. However, they later realised that it still had many shortcomings. For example, temporary nursery teachers were not included in the list. The city issued another package but the data was also lacking and inaccurate. Mai said the city had dealt with several cases in which the local authorities issued support packages to the wrong people or collected inaccurate information.
In the first support package, each person was given VND1.5m (USD66). In the second package, each household was given VND1.5m. However, Mai said that only giving out VND1.5m once was not enough. If the outbreak continues after September 15, the city would issue a monthly allowance for each person depending on their situation.
In the past days, several state employees who were responsible for sending out the money had tested positive for Covid-19 so many people have not received the support money. The work was promised to be resumed quickly in a few days.
"On the behalf of the city authorities, I want to apologise to everyone. People who have been included in the support list can contact local authorities for help," he said.
The city also has a programme to give 15kg of rice a month to people in need. Mai thanked everyone who has donated to the charity and send gifts to people in HCM City.
As of now, HCM City has to spend VND4.8trn (USD2.9m) from the city budget on relief packages. Another VND1.2trn was raised from the private sector. The city has issued over 1.6 million gifts including rice and other necessities.
"We hope to issue all 14,000 tonnes of rice by September 10," Mai said. "The city is developing an app that can deal with weaknesses in statistical work."
