Minister of Human Services and Social Security Priya Manickchand says the ministry is working with the Georgetown Legal Aid Clinic to extend legal services to Regions Five and Ten.

According to a Government Information Agency (GINA) press release this is in keeping with the government’s 2007 plans to extend social services to all of the regions through the introduction of programmes aimed at alleviating poverty.

Manickchand said the ministry is “serving a majority of regions but we believe that we can do much more.” She also said the ministry “will be advertising very soon for social workers” and more social workers will be trained to deliver better service in the Probation and Social Services Department. GINA said government, in 2003, had “entered into an agreement in principle to bring relief to the cash-strapped” clinic which provides legal services, at a minimal cost, to victims of domestic violence countrywide.

The clinic had announced its decision to close its doors as the fees charged for services were insufficient to cover its expenditures, when government intervened.