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Roland Butler, MHA for the District of Port de Grave and Opposition critic
for the Department of Human Resources and Employment (HRE), says people in
need are suffering because adequate provisions were not implemented when
government closed 20 HRE offices around this province. An internal e-mail
now shows that the Department is scrambling to deal with the number of
complaints they are receiving. "I have been contacted by a number of
social assistance recipients from around the province who are encountering
problems as their HRE office closes. With the number of complaints being
received in the department, government has now seconded an individual to
help deal with these issues.
The Liberal MHA says one common complaint he is hearing from outside St.
John’s is that 1-800 numbers are not available. "People on a fixed income do
not have the resources to make a long distance call to the department during
working hours. People who used to receive correspondence directly from their
local office are now experiencing a time lag as they wait for documents to
be delivered through the mail. People in need are suffering because this
government closed offices and refused to put the proper provisions in place
for cases such as these. I have been told by HRE staff in the St. John’s
area that caseloads have reached a crisis level.
"I questioned the Minister about this in the House of Assembly earlier
this Spring and I raised these concerns. She had plenty of time to deal with
this and decided to ignore the problem. There is no excuse for this kind of
incompetence on the minister’s part. Rather than ignoring these problems and
denying they exist, she should start listening and implement the resources
needed to deal with this crisis situation. Just doing an internal
reassignment of duties is not enough. The Minister should now realize that
these cuts are causing unmanageable strains."
On May 11 of this year government issued a news release confirming they
would close offices in:
Bay Roberts, Conception Bay South, Ferryland, St. Mary’s, Whitbourne, Bay
L’Argent, Botwood, Gambo, Grand Bank, Harbour Breton, Fogo, Wesleyville,
Bonne Bay, Burgeo, Englee, Deer Lake, Piccadilly, Stephenville Crossing,
Cartwright and Forteau. In the House of Assembly earlier this Spring, the
minister justified the cuts government made by stating technology and
transportation networks have improved. It is now obvious that these cuts
were made without taking into account how they would impact on social
assistance clients. |