More FEMA assistance for Chaba victims

Help continues to pour in for victims of Supertyphoon Chaba, which devastated the Northern Marianas two months ago.

The Department of Labor announced yesterday that CNMI resident workers have been deemed eligible for the Disaster Unemployment Assistance program of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Under the program, resident workers may receive up to $250 for each week that they lost wages as a result of the typhoon, according to Labor public information officer Jesse Atoigue. The period covered by the disaster unemployment assistance will run up to 26 weeks, starting August 22, 2004.

Labor’s Division of Employment Services will be accepting applications for the assistance from Nov. 1 through Nov. 30, Atoigue said.

According to Labor, the program was approved as a result of President Bush’s declaration of the Northern Marianas as a major disaster area. The assistance will be made available to individuals, including those self-employed, whose employment has been lost or interrupted as a result of the typhoon.

These individuals must be living and working in the affected areas at the time of the disaster. U.S. citizens or nationals living and working in the affected areas at the time of the typhoon may qualify for the assistance if they:

* were unable to get to their jobsite or self-employment location because they must travel through the affected area and were prevented from doing so as a result of the disaster;

* were to begin employment or self-employment, but were prevented by the disaster;

* became the breadwinner or major support of a household because of the death of the previous head of household due to the disaster;

* cannot work or perform services in self-employment because of injury sustained as a direct result of the disaster.

* cannot work or perform services because of physical damage or destruction to the jobsite as a direct result of the disaster; or

* lost a majority of income or revenue because the employer or self-employed business was damaged, destroyed, or closed by the federal government.

“All individuals who meet [these] criteria are encouraged to come to the Department of Labor, Division of Employment Services & Training, to file a Disaster Unemployment Assistance application,” the labor department said.

Documents required for processing of applications include previous year’s income tax return, social security card, payroll records or earnings statement of the last payday prior to the disaster, and a copy of business license, if applicable.

Aside from the financial assistance, the Division of Employment Services & Training will provide help through its referral and job placement program. “As the Disaster Unemployment Assistance Program is temporary, the referral and job placement assistance will assist unemployed workers in obtaining employment,” Labor said.