On Monday June 30th, President of the St Maarten Seniors & Pensioners Association, Patricia Flanders handed over the application forms for the pilot project by NV GEBE offering relief to Senior Citizens. The application forms were handed over to Managing Director of NV GEBE Romelio Maduro at the office of GEBE. Project Leader Clifford Sasso was also on hand to receive the application forms. With this step, the application process for pilot project of the Senior Relief Program, an initiative that was made public by the utility company earlier this year has finally come to a close. The applications will now be reviewed and relief offered to those who qualify based on the criteria set for the program. This pilot project will run for a period of six months, after which reassessment and reapplication is necessary based on the financial sustainability of the company.
To ensure applicants fully understand the guidelines, objectives and criteria of this program, seniors’ citizens were advised to collect application forms, information brochures and other relevant documents for this program at the N V GEBE branches. Seniors were then given the opportunity to read the information and ensure they fully comprehend the process. All the necessary information about eligible target groups, eligible expenses, rules and procedures for applications and more were duly outlined in the documents. The documents were prepared in order to assist the seniors to succeed with this project application process.
As the application process is now closed all application forms will be reviewed and the selected seniors who qualify for relief will be notified within short. Based on applications received, the Managing Board has divided applicants of the 62+Senior Relief Program in the following categories, based on electricity expense of the seniors.
GEBE bills (ANG)
Category ANG Relief Provided in ANG
1 0- 200 Invoice amount
2 201-300 200
3 301-500 150
4 501-700 100
5 > 701 50
The larger portion of applicants fall in categories 1 and 2, which is clear that this would be the main groups to focus on.
In order to further assist seniors with relief, NV GEBE has also decided to start a LED Awareness Program for the elderly. GEBE will invest in purchasing the LED lighting for the seniors as part of the 62+ Senior Relief program to further reduce their bills. This undertaking is the second of such program and GEBE remains committed to provide more of such programs to the community of St. Maarten.