By Ogenyi Ogenyi,Uyo
The Akwa Ibom State Agency for Community and Social Development has said that the second phase of its AK-CARES intervention would record 1,055 people receiving N150,000 grant each through the agency.
This is a massive leap from the first phase which recorded 353 beneficiaries receiving a N100,000 grant.
Acting General Manager of the Agency Mr Martins Umoh who said this in Uyo on Tuesday explained that his agency has executed about 450 projects in the state since its inception, with the aim of impacting communities in the rural areas in line with Governor Umo Eno’s ARISE Agenda.
Umoh revealed that more plans and strategies have been mapped out and put in place for the second phase of AK-CARES adding that through this intervention, farmers, low income earning, families, youths would be affected in a positive way.
Speaking on how the beneficiaries of the scheme are selected, Umoh asserted that the agency works with the State Social Agency Rate Register to get names of people between the ages of 18 and 40 on the ratio of 6:4 for women and men.
“What the agency is required to do is just to request for the names of people they are to work with through the office in charge of the State Social Safety Net Register.
“We tell them the number of people needed and when they have the list of these names spread across the state between the ages of 18-40, women 60% and men 40.
“After receiving it, we go out to verify, contacting them to really see whether they are eligible – because the scheme is strictly for people that are already engaged in one trade or the other.
“We do not only end at verification, we train them, just to ensure that at the end of it when they are given the funds, they will optimize it. When we train them, we enroll them and then hand them over to the payment service provider – that is the bank.” He explained.
