By Amin Kef Sesay
Saturday 15th August, 2020 marked the second day employees from the tourism and hospitality industry continue to receive their safety net support cash disbursement from the Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Affairs with National Tourist Board in collaboration with Ministry of Finance at the Radisson BLU venue in the presence of Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), National Civil Registration Commission including the press.
The commencement of day 2 payment exercises to beneficiaries of the Tourism and Hospitality sector in the Western Urban and Rural Areas at the Radisson BLU Hotel is scheduled to end on Tuesday 18th August, 2020, and the payment team will continue disbursement to beneficiaries in the provinces for the rest of the month.
Hotels with high numbers of employees were among the first to receive payment followed by the restaurant, guest houses, casino, night clubs, traveling agencies, sea transportation and local handling operators.
Employees of the Radisson BLU Hotel were among those that first received their payment benefits followed by the Bintumani, Family Kingdom and Atlantic Hotels.
The payment is for every tourism and hospitality facilities in the country that submitted list of their workers as requested by the Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Affairs through the National Tourist Board (NTB) and the Hotel and Tourism Association (HTA).
According to our reporter, the payment exercise was supervised and verified by Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), National Civil Registration Authority (NCRA) and it will continue until the 18th August, 2020 after which the disbursement will be extended to the provinces for the rest of the month.
Beneficiaries of the safety net support extended their thanks and appreciation to H.E the President for his commitment in transforming the Tourism and Hospitality sectors as which are the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.
They also showered praises on the dynamic Minister of Tourism and Cultural Affairs for demonstrating to the nation that women can do it better.
Some expressed the view that despite the many shocks that the country has gone through this is the first ever in the history of this country for the Government to pay attention to the plight of workers in the tourism and hospitality industries.
They offered prayers for His Excellency and the Government, wishing all God’s protection and guidance.
It could be recalled that in order to mitigate the debilitating impact of the coronavirus pandemic and reduce the economic burden on workers in the tourism and hospitality sectors, His Excellency, President Dr. Julius Maada Bio, through the Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Affairs in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance, on Thursday 13th August, 2020 dished out Four Billion Eight Hundred and Eighty Three Million Eight Hundred and Forty Thousand Leones (Le4,883,840,000) as Social Safety Net Wage Bill Support to affected employees in the aforementioned sectors.
