Montserrat Survey of Living Conditions (MSLC) Executive Summary

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Montserrat Survey of Living ConditionsExecutive SummaryThe SWD have also identified improvements that need to be made within their organisation, includingclearer eligibility criteria, more focussed targeting and consolidating the administration of the regular andone-off programmes. Arguably, given budgetary constraints these should be the short term priorities.4.5 Social SecurityMandatory social security was introduced in Montserrat in 1986. At present around 2,100 employees and315 employers make contributions. Contributions are mandatory and collected from both employees andemployers. The scheme provides sickness and maternity benefits, invalidity assistance and old age/pension benefit. Self employed persons are expected to contribute 8% of their taxable income but noteveryone in this group contributes. In 2008, 570 persons received pensions, not all of whom will beresident on the island.The main current concerns are the level of the SS pension and the long term financial sustainability of thesystem. Proposals are included in the 2009 to address these issues including (i) gradually increasing theretirement age from 60 to 65 years; (ii) increasing the ceiling of the insured earnings to enable higherpensions to be paid; and (iii) index linking pension payments.4.6 The PoliceThe Montserrat Police Force is forward looking and has a number of programmes to address the socialaspects of criminal activity. These include training in domestic violence, child abuse, a community policinginitiative and close working relationships with other agencies (e.g. CSD, Education). Awareness campaignsare being run to combat domestic violence, child abuse and drug taking.4.7 HousingThe provision of public housing is the responsibility of the Ministry of Agriculture, Lands, Housing andthe Environment (MALHE). It has taken many years to address needs of Montserratians displaced by theeruption and remaining on the island. The situation is still not finally resolved with 70 families still living intemporary shelters and others in poor quality rented accommodation.Recent policy is for government to gradually get out of housing construction and leave it to the privatesector - but the private sector is slow to take up the challenge. Land is expensive and prices are increasingexacerbating the problem. It is also difficult for many to get a mortgage: assets were lost in the eruptionwhich led to non-payment of mortgages and consequently a poor credit rating.New initiatives are therefore being introduced. Grants have recently been re-introduced, for the first timehome owners who have sufficient funds of their own to construct a decent home within a 6-8 monthperiod but access to land and employment are required criteria. A more wide-ranging programme, HOME(Home Ownership Motivates Everyone) is included in the current budget and is designed to facilitateaccess to housing by people on low incomes and young professionals.4.8 Physical InfrastructureThe provision of basic physical infrastructure in the safe zone is now largely complete. Water supply, roadaccess and electricity networks are essentially universal. In consequence, the focus is now more onMontserrat Country Poverty Assessment, Final ReportHalcrow Group Limited, July 2012.ES20
Montserrat Survey of Living ConditionsExecutive Summarymaintenance and extending networks to the few areas with inadequate service. Grants from CDB’s BNTFprogramme are being used for this purpose and to provide small scale community facilities.4.9 NGOsA number of NGOs (e.g. the Red Cross, the Old People’s Welfare Association, the Red Cross and thechurches) provide services to very poor individuals and families. There are also several immigrantassociations, most of which concentrate on providing advice and guidance, and putting on social andcultural activities. Two general comments can be made about these activities:the overall impression from the PPAs is that the services that these organisations provide arewelcomed by their beneficiaries.these organisations are operating on a shoestring through donations and voluntary services. Thelack of funds is therefore a major constraint on the extent of services that they can provide andtheir ability to cater for the current level of demand.In summary, the NGOs/ CBOS, know what they are doing, are doing the ‘right’ thing, but are unable toprovide the extent of assistance that they would like to. In this sense they are in a similar position to SWDand CSD whose operations are also heavily constrained by financial restrictions.4.10 OverviewThe scale of the destruction caused by the volcanic eruptions required the complete re-construction ofsocial, physical and community infrastructure and systems in the safe zone. These programmes have beensuccessful in that basic infrastructure provision is now almost universal and social welfare, education andhealth services are all re-established.Attention is therefore shifting to issues related to the quality of, access to, and financing of these services.Most of these issues are already appreciated and policies and programmes to address them are beingimplemented, including several which are designed to directly benefit poor and vulnerable households.Several of these have been formulated or implemented in the last 12 months. Examples are social welfareservices and housing for the elderly and the disabled, education programmes for low achieving anddisruptive pupils, public awareness campaigns to address social issues such as drug-taking, antisocialbehaviour, domestic violence and child abuse. These initiatives are supplemented by a number of localNGOs, sometimes part-funded by overseas donors.The key issue is thus not so much one of an absence of relevant programmes but rather one of resourcing.In virtually every case, progress is hampered by insufficient funds and manpower. This situation has beenexacerbated by the current economic and fiscal contexts which have led to both an increasing demand forservices and are putting pressure on the funds available to address them.In this context, the way forward is to identify innovative approaches to these issues and to prioritisebetween the policies and programmes that have already been proposed in the MSDP and by theimplementing agencies concerned, often very recently. Given the likelihood that a significant increase infunds is unlikely in the short- or medium-terms, this puts a premium on identifying recommendations thateither do not have major financial implications or have the potential to attract donor funding.Montserrat Country Poverty Assessment, Final ReportHalcrow Group Limited, July 2012.ES21
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