Naju City Extends Application Period for 'Farmer and Fisherman Public Interest Allowance' Until the 29th of Next Month

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yukbong] Naju City, Jeollanam-do (Mayor Kang In-gyu) announced on the 27th that the application deadline for the first payment of the farmer and fisherman public interest allowance this year has been extended until the 29th of next month.

The city is accepting additional applications for farmers and fishermen who have not applied for the public interest allowance, considering the restrictions on outdoor activities due to the spread and prolongation of COVID-19 and the conditions of the system's first implementation.

The farmer and fisherman public interest allowance is a system introduced for the first time nationwide this year by Jeollanam-do and its 22 cities and counties to resolve social issues in rural areas such as aging and population decline and to promote sustainable agricultural and fishery development.

The applicants are farmers and fishermen who are heads of management entities registered with agricultural and fishery management information and have actually resided in the city and engaged in agriculture and fishery since before December 31, 2018.

After reviewing the eligibility of applicants, the city, in cooperation with local agricultural cooperatives, is directly visiting villages to practice social distancing due to COVID-19 and providing a one-time payment of 600,000 KRW in Naju Love Gift Certificates using a birth year-based 5-day rotation system.

During the previous application period, 13,653 farmers applied for the allowance, of which 12,711 (93%) passed the eligibility review, and as of the 22nd, 9,316 have received the allowance.

The city expects that the circulation of Naju Love Gift Certificates worth a total of 7.7 billion KRW will provide a lifeline for small business owners and self-employed people struggling due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic by stabilizing their income.

Mayor Kang In-gyu said, “We plan to complete the payment of the public interest allowance to additional applicants by June at the latest,” and added, “We will continue to do our best to discover sustainable agricultural support policies so that the hard work of farmers who protect agriculture, a national life industry, can be respected.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.