Poor families to receive equal aid in clothes and food

TIRANA, Feb. 14 – Recent price increases in basic food products have pushed government to seek changes to the social assistance law foreseeing even food and clothes articles as aid apart from the monthly cash payments.
The Labour and Social Affairs Ministry initiative was supported even by Sherefedin Shehu, a former deputy finance minister, currently a deputy of the ruling Democratic Party who said that such schemes are also applied in developed EU countries.
The new amendments also envisage the social assistance beneficiaries should also be engaged in community work if asked to.
The changes also foresee that the decision on the poor families which should be treated with assistance will be taken by regional social service directorates. Currently, these decisions are made by municipal or communal councils. The changes aimed at lowering the poverty levels and prevent the frequent abuses from the assistance scheme will cost the Albanian government an extra 194 million lek for this year.
Currently some 85,000 Albanian families are treated with social assistance.
The increase in some basic food prices such as bread, cooking oil, sugar and rice, but also liquid gas and fuel is making the life of average Albanians, especially pensioners, the unemployed and those who rely on falling remittances even more difficult in this beginning of 2011.
The situation is a result of a sharp rise in basic product prices in international markets where Albania is a net importer but also the high tax burden applied to these products.