The National Commission for Self Help Ltd (NCSHL) is now a dormant body.
This was the view of Surujdeo Mangaroo, former NCSHL chairman, who said he was still getting calls for assistance from members of the public. Mangaroo spoke with reporters when he delivered a wheelchair to Sybil Gopaul, a pensioner, at her Mc Bean Village, Couva, home yesterday.
Mangaroo delivered the wheelchair in his capacity as the charter president of the Penal Rotary Club.
He said, “I have been receiving a lot of calls on social media from people seeking assistance. Unfortunately, I am no longer the chairman of the NCSHL, but I would like to call on the chairman and the relevant minister to reach out to the poor people.
“During my tenure at the NCSHL I reached out to thousands of needy cases. I am pleading to the authorities to look at the poor; they need your help.”
He said during his stint as chairman, 115 starter houses and 11 activity centres were completed.
Couva North MP Ramona Ramdial said she has also been bombarded with calls from five families who are fire victims and have applied for assistance from the NCSHL since December 2015. Ramdial said these people have not gotten any assistance as yet. Ramdial said she hopes that some of the $2.5 billion extracted from the Heritage and Stabilisation Fund will go towards assisting the needy and vulnerable in society.