By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Senior Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

SUSAN Larson, head of the National Food Distribution Task Force formed under the Minnis administration, has defended the programme after Social Services Minister Obie Wilchcombe questioned the nearly $800k weekly bill.

Last week, Mr Wilchcombe said his ministry is moving quickly to put in place a new food programme.

In a letter to the editor, Mrs Larson said zone leaders for the programme included the Bahamas Feeding Network, the Grand Bahama Food Assistance Committee, Hands for Hunger, IDEA Relief, Lend a Hand Bahamas, One Eleuthera Foundation, and, during 2020, the Bahamas Red Cross.

“What the NGOs do not deserve is politically motivated sideswipes,” she said. “It is always tempting to use the shock value of a big number for political gain. But when that maneuver threatens to negatively impact the integrity of the NGOs I worked alongside of, I feel compelled to speak out.

“The weekly spend of the programme during 2021 was slightly more than $768,000. The money goes quickly when you divide it by the 18,000 households requiring assistance this year. Throughout the past 19 months, the NGOs worked tirelessly to value-engineer its food parcels to a much higher amount through local donations, discounts, leveraged purchasing with local vendors, and the incredible engagement of volunteers.

 “The math is straightforward: with a weekly budget of $768,000 the breakdown per household unit was $42.66 which included non-food expenses. Another hallmark of the task force was the commitment to keep administrative costs at eight to nine percent in New Providence, 10-12 percent in the Family Islands generally, and 20 percent in Abaco—where most of the infrastructure was lost during Hurricane Dorian. Recognising that every dollar would make a difference to a family in need, the task force’s decision to keep as much money as possible in actual food assistance was unanimous.

 “In the context of government operations, these overhead numbers are unheard of. They are one of the great advantages of public private partnerships as the implied savings can create a large opportunity for leveraging the benefits of the programme for the wider good.

“In New Providence weekly food parcels were valued at approximately $38 for a household of four persons. Imagine, if you will, the humility that comes when distributing or accepting such a meager parcel for an entire household. Each of us certainly wished we could give more. As chairman, I often received anguished calls from NGO zone leaders asking, ‘how can we do more?’ Together we would devise ways to provide additional emergency support. “The task force was bolstered continuously by expressions of deep gratitude from persons in need. Text messages and voicemails moved many of us to tears and steeled our resolve to carry on.

“In many areas and for many people, food parcels were the only practical option and canned goods were often a necessity as recipients did not have refrigerators or even electricity and therefore no means to preserve perishable food. Some beneficiaries physically could not get to distribution centres, and, in those cases, the parcels were delivered.”

Mrs Larson said the food programme, which was started in the spring of 2020, was a $54 million investment that “will be remembered as the largest and most successful social aid programme in our nation’s history.” She said at the peak of the pandemic in 2020, about 57,000 households had registered for assistance.

 “In scope and scale, the task force is the largest Bahamian public private partnership ever crafted. It has elevated awareness of what can be achieved when the government embraces the private sector as a willing and able partner, and, in return, the private sector contributes its experience and know-how for the greater good. It has cemented the role such partnerships should play in national development as our country moves forward,” she said.

 Last week, Mr Wilchcombe suggested the food costs in the programme could be lowered as he questioned some of the choices taken.

 “So as far as the food programme is concerned, it comes to an end and then we have to absorb the individuals,” he said. “I just don’t understand why we’re spending 800 plus thousand dollars a week. I have a difficulty with that and they’re buying through a second hand while it makes more sense to have warehouses of food and cause for the distribution and we can buy them directly from the manufacturers or the producers of the factories.

 “Why are we spending an incredible amount of money going through second and third parties when it’s causing the state so much and still not getting as many people the food as I’d like them to have?

 “Seventeen thousand we’re told were fed, my thinking is you have much more than that who are suffering and so we have to find a better way to do it.”