The National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI), has advised applicants seeking its stimulus packages to be wary of people who demand money from them to facilitate the disbursement of the support they have requested.
According to the Public Relations Coordinator of the Board, Keskine Owusu Poku, some dishonest persons were taking advantage of lack of knowledge on the part of some applicants to defraud them.
He said the NBSSI support schemes application process could not be manipulated by anybody, adding that the Board’s offices nationwide or hotlines should be the first port of call should applicants need update or any queries on NBSSI support schemes.
Mr Poku gave this advice in Accra on Friday when the NBSSI held an open day to provide education and assistance to applicants who had some challenges with support schemes being implemented by the Board.
The support schemes include the COVID-19 Alleviation Programme Business Support Scheme (CAP BuSS) and the NBSSI/Mastercard Foundation COVID-19 Recovery and Resilience Programme for Micro, Small and Medium-scale Enterprises (MSMEs), otherwise known as Nkosuo.
The event brought together more than 400 applicants who needed updates on their CAP BuSS requests and assistance to complete applications for the Nkosuo programmes and individuals who wanted to make general enquiries about the operations of the Board.
According to Mr Poku, the event was part of efforts to ensure that the applicants got their concerns addressed timely as well as prevent unscrupulous people from taking advantage of them.
He said apart from Friday’s event, officers of the board would pitch camp at the Efua Sutherland Park in Accra henceforth and also be available at their regional offices to aid applicants have a smooth process.
“There are people who want to apply for the schemes but do not know how to start and there are people who do not know how to handle the online application. We do not want anybody to pay money to anybody for these services and that is why we are creating these opportunities to assist them,” he said.
Mr Poku said more than 800,000 successful CAPBuSS applications had been received out of which more than 240,000 had received payments while application for the Nkosuo programme was still open.
BY JONATHAN DONKOR
