KINGSTON, Jamaica – Labour Minister Pearnel Charles Jr has indicated once more that all Jamaicans are welcome to participate in the review process for the Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH).

According to a release on Tuesday, the ongoing series of PATH Town Hall meetings are being conducted as part of a consultative process to gather stakeholder feedback to inform the transformation process. In these meetings, several questions, concerns and recommendations have been made, one of which outlined that Councillors and Members of Parliament (MP) should be relied on to recommend and select PATH beneficiaries.

However, Minister Charles Jr in his response shared that the latter has been a key part of the PATH programme since its inception. He shared that as MPs and Councillors identify various needs among their constituents, recommendations are given.

He noted further that what is not permitted is the selection of beneficiaries by said MPs and Councillors.

“Let us be clear that recommending and selecting are two different things. MP’s, Councillors, Justices of the Peace, and other community leaders have been recommending applicants since the inception of the programme and these recommendations have always been welcome. I don’t see anything wrong with them sharing their recommendations for possible PATH beneficiaries, based on them identifying a need as they move through their various constituents,” he outlined. “However, that doesn’t mean they will be able to select or tell us who to select.”

He noted further that a recommendation does not exempt an applicant from the selection process, nor does it guarantee selection.

“In its current form, recommended applicants are subject to the same evaluation process as any other applicant, that is, through application of the data-driven Beneficiary Identification System (BIS),” he shared noting that “we continue to encourage all Jamaicans to engage with the transformation process and invite members of the public to submit their comments and recommendations to us via email to transformpath@mlss.gov.jm.”