The Samoa Government has engaged the services of a New Zealand-based company to replace the Samoa Senior Citizens Benefit Fund (S.C.B.F.) AS400 System. 

General Capital Technologies Limited will also be adding the Disability Benefit Fund (D.B.F.) into the new system which will be distributed by Samoa National Provident Fund (S.N.P.F.). 

The company which is also known as "GenCap" offers refreshingly new, cloud-based, fully integrated technologies to drive wealth management, core banking, fund administration, and business intelligence solutions. The contract was awarded on 19 April 2023 and GenCap was the sole bidder when the project was advertised. The contract amount is NZD$1,185,365 (SAT$1,956,507.756). 

The disbursement of the Disability Funds to be conducted by S.N.P.F. is in the National Provident Fund Amendment Bill 2023 which was tabled and deliberated on in Parliament in June this year. 

The Finance Minister, Mulipola Anarosa Ale Molio'o tabled the package of legislation with a SAT$2 million allocation for people with disability for the current financial year. The changes proposed that the allocated funds for people with disability in Samoa will be distributed using the same system S.N.P.F. has for disbursing pensions to citizens aged 65 and older in Samoa. 

This was one of the initiatives that was highlighted in the ruling party's manifesto prior to the election. However, the legislation was only tabled in June this year, but the Government had started distributing funds to people with disability in the previous financial year with the absence of legislation to guide or supervise how the funding was distributed. 

This raised questions in the Legislative Assembly during deliberations on the bill. The proposed changes stated that people with disabilities will have to register their names with the Ministry of Women, Community and Social Development along with confirmation reports from doctors and church ministers. 

They will receive $100 every month and the government will give the money to S.N.P.F. who will distribute the money to the registered citizens using the system they use to distribute pensions. Anyone who is born with disabilities is entitled to the benefits until they reach 64 years then they will get their pension benefit at the age of 65. 

The bill is currently before the Finance and Expenditure Parliamentary Committee for review and the committee started their review on Wednesday this week. The Office of the Clerk of Legislative Assembly (O.C.L.A.) has invited general members of the public to make submissions to the parliamentary committee on the amendments.