Some of the "poor" people receiving the TTCards—which allows them to purchase food—are driving sports cars and are undeserving of the State grant, Social Development Minister Glenn Ramadharsingh said yesterday.
"The country has enough for everyone in need but it doesn't have enough for everyone in greed," he added.
This kind of behavior happens all over the World where people take advantage of the system simply because they could get away with it. However, we should not tolerate this indecent activity by citizens. This program was designed to help those in need and we should not tolerate this brazen and boldface behavior of people who don't need this grant.
The 'Smart Card' was designed to help those in need not those who could help themselves. We also have to look at the people issuing the cards because this is also an area where government workers could grant these cards to people for a kick back. It sounds bad but is a reality.
The Smart Card is being used by so called Smart Men who have found a way to manipulate the system to their benefit. This title can also be applied to the dealers who accept the smart card. If the card is used to pay for non essential items like cigarettes etc then they should be penalized for defeating the purpose for which the card was designed.
It can work and there will always be people looking to cheat their way into the coffers of the State. We need to make these punishable offences to help deter these offenders. Let's hope that it is not only talk but action will be taken to weed out these thieves.