Many people who have been affected by this year’s floods have not filed for state aid due to overbearing procedures.

The government bureaucracy that handles victims’ claims differs from region to region. As a result, only one quarter of all possible claims have been filed in Sandomierz, south-east Poland, whereas in Krapkowice, in the Opole province, almost everyone asking for state aid has already received it.

According to the recommendations put forward by the Labour Ministry, flood victims should only have to fill in a one-page form and file two declarations alongside it: any income, and/or losses as a result of the floods.

Deputy labour minister Jaroslaw Duda told the press that the intention is not to give out aid on the basis of income. However, as the extra support is handed out from the social assistance fund, the amount that each person were to receive is based on earnings.

The financial help set aside for flood victims was to exclude income as a discerning factor as to the amount of aid handed out. Meanwhile, instructions laid out by the Ministry of Internal Affairs suggest that the amount of aid “should vary”, although it does not state how.

The result of the ministry’s inconclusiveness has meant that some provinces have gone back to square one, and are means-testing the incomes of flood victims with regards to the amount of aid they receive.

Social Assistance Centres are accepting income declarations in order to file for aid relief. Yet many people in Sandomierz are afraid to hand over details of their earnings, the town’s deputy mayor told the press: either because they think they will not receive enough help, or that they may have to pay fiscal penalties if they make a mistake on the relevant forms. (jb)

Source: Dziennik Gazeta Prawna

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