Government spent $800,000+ to help citizens

Read storyNearly 8,000 people asked for government assistance in the last four months of 2008 compared to 960 during the same period in 2007.

During his contribution to a senate debate, Minister of Labour and Social Development, Dion Foulkes, said the government spent $857,000 in aid to citizens, including:

$500,000 to help 900 people with their Bahamas Electricity Corporation bills
$260,000 to help 430 people with rent
$50,000 in medical assistance
$47,000 on assistance with bills from the Water and Sewerage Corporation

These figures don't include assistance given in Grand Bahama or the family islands, which Foulkes said also increased

Full Story in The Nassau Guardian here