Cambodia to launch cash aid for over 600,000 poor families due to Covid-19


PHNOM PENH, June 22 (Xinhua): Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen said on Monday that the government will launch a cash relief program for more than 600,000 poor and vulnerable families due to the the Covid-19 (coronavirus) pandemic.

"On June 24, I will announce the launch of cash relief to more than 600,000 poor families with a few millions of people," he said during a site visit of the new Phnom Penh International Airport in southern Kandal province.

"We will spend about US$25mil a month to assist them," he added.

The prime minister said the cash handout program aimed to help those locals whose jobs have been suspended due to the Covid-19, especially the poor in remote areas who are facing food shortages.

According to a sub-decree signed by Hun Sen and released to the media on Sunday, poor families in capital Phnom Penh and provincial towns classified as levels 1 and 2 will receive a cash handout of US$30 a month from the government.

A Level 1 poor family member in the capital will be further assisted with US$13 a month, while a Level 2 poor family member will get US$9.

The sub-decree added that a Level 1 poor family member in provincial towns will receive 10 dollars in assistance per month and a Level 2 poor family member will get US$7.

Vulnerable groups such as children, disabled people, elderly people, and HIV/AIDS carriers are to receive equal cash, it said, adding that each person will get US$10 for Level 1 and US$7 for Level 2.

The sub-decree added that poor families in the countryside will receive US$20, with each family member in Level 1 further receiving 6 dollars and in Level 2 further getting US$4.

Cambodia has so far reported a total of 129 confirmed Covid-19 cases, mostly imported, and no death has been recorded, the Ministry of Health said, adding that currently, only two patients remain hospitalised. - Xinhua/Asian News Network

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