Economy Minister, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum

The $50 assistance from the government started at 3pm and people need to dial *161#.

Economy Minister, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, says this is for all those who are not getting any other form of assistance.

Sayed-Khaiyum says this is particularly targeted for those in the informal sector and who do not qualify under any other assistance scheme and are not employed will be able to receive a payment of fifty dollars.

He says more than one person in an affected household can apply for the $50 payment.

The Minister for Economy says the assistance is only applicable to eligible Fijians in Viti Levu adding that it can be extended if the need arises.

“If you are p getting assistance please also understand that there are those Fijians who are currently aren’t getting assistance. We do want to be able to help them. If the measures remain in place, we need to provide another round of assistance but we need that assistance to go to the right people.”

Sayed-Khaiyum says applications will close on Friday evening and his team will thoroughly verify application to ensure assistance are going to the right people.

“Give us at least five working days to verify that process, it actually can come sooner than that, but the maximum time we saying is please give us five working days because we need to verify our records.”

Sayed-Khaiyum urges recipients to put the money to good use.

People will need to use their Vodafone MPaisa or Digicel MYCash accounts.

Vodafone Fiji says they will set up at certain borders for example Sawani in Naitasiri to allow for people from outside the containment area to cash out the assistance.