The Department of Social Welfare has requested families of persons, who were a social welfare beneficiary and are now deceased, to report their deaths to the Department.
This was after the Ministry of Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation received a notification from the Financial Intelligence Unit of a complaint lodged with them.
Minister Responsible, Lynda Tabuya said that in the spirit of cooperation, we are giving families of deceased persons to report their deaths within a three-month amnesty period.
Tabuya said they do not want to enforce this right away because there needs to be communication between the Department of Social Welfare and the public on this issue.
Last week, the Ministry indicated that the issue of families continuing to receive social welfare benefits of deceased persons continue to occur occasionally but not on a regular basis; but it has prompted an investigation by the Ministry.