URP Staff Reassigned As Government Moves To Wind Down Programme

Minister of Rural Development and Local Government Khadijah Ameen says public servants previously attached to the Unemployment Relief Programme (URP) have been reassigned to technical units within the Ministry, as the Government moves to wind down the programme.

Responding to questions during the Standing Finance Committee, Minister Ameen explained that $6.5 million was allocated for salaries and Cost-of-Living Allowances (COLA) under the URP for fiscal 2027.

“So while they are getting paid under this URP Head, they have been assigned to different technical sections within the Ministry of Local Government. All of these are public servants, and while they are there currently, it’s sort of a temporary arrangement, as they are absorbed into different Corporations and different parts of the Ministry, they will be removed from this URP Head because we are not; we don’t intend to maintain this URP Head because, you know, the programme is being closed down. So this is the public servants who are there, who are assigned to different places, but they still get paid under this Head.”