Business owners have expressed frustration over the delay in receiving support grant payments from the government.

In early August 2021, the government announced a number of support grants and payments would be available to businesses up until the end of September, with a one-off business grant available in October.

But some businesses are yet to see any money hit their bank accounts as the government faces the large task of administering the business support measures.

Not only have some support grant payments been delayed, but some businesses say they are uncertain about whether their applications have even been processed, or accepted.

Sue - who is using a pseudonym because she is concerned speaking to Cook Islands News could affect her payments - says she has yet to receive any support payment or communication from the government.

"We submit our applications but then we don't hear anything back, so I don't even know if they're being reviewed,” she said.

“This is creating a lot of uncertainty for people especially those businesses who are desperate,”

Sue is just one of several business owners who have experienced delays and received no information about payments in recent months.

Another business owner, who also did not want to be named, said they were also waiting on payments from September 2021.

"It's incredibly stressful, because how do we tell the gas and phone companies that we can't pay our bills because we haven't received the grant money from the government on time,” she said.

“I don’t understand why payments are taking so long, but understand there is a need to protect the system.”

Payments delayed by incomplete applications

A Cook Islands government spokesman said payments owed to a vast majority of businesses this year should have been paid out but delays were often due to the fact that applications were incomplete, and some businesses not meeting eligibility criteria.

"The speed of payments is assisted by complete applications with all the necessary details being submitted,” he said.

 “We have other criteria this time, so if the application hasn’t met the criteria in some way then we have to do further checking, which is when our processing starts and we get hold of employers.”

“The most common reason for contacting employers is their CINSF registration which is the number of staff they have which hasn’t been accurate,” he said.

“If an application requires following up then this adds to the workload of the processors and delays the payment of these incomplete applications"

Currently, a team of between three to four assessors is looking at applications.

While the government is working to deliver payments for correctly submitted applications, those businesses who were registered in May and eligible, should have received their payments automatically and ahead of time.

Business owners and sole traders should receive an email or notification from Revenue Management notifying them of their payment, or if their applications are incomplete.

For questions about support grant payments, businesses are encouraged to contact Revenue Management directly.