Kim Kyung-ho, head of Gwangjin District Office, is volunteering to provide heating for the homes of vulnerable groups.
Additional budget of 158 million KRW allocated to support electricity and city gas fees for 1,000 households with income exceeding 80% but not exceeding 100% of the median income outside the welfare system
Up to 10,000 KRW per household per month for electricity fees, and up to 12,000 KRW per household per month for city gas fees
[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Gwangjin-gu (Mayor Kim Kyung-ho) is preparing an additional budget to support public utility fees for energy-vulnerable groups.
Recently, starting with a sharp rise in heating costs, increases in other public utility fees such as electricity, public transportation, and water and sewage fees have been announced one after another. Vulnerable groups who spend a high proportion of their expenses on public utility fees are expected to be hit especially hard.
In response, Gwangjin-gu has acted swiftly to prepare support measures for public utility fees for energy-vulnerable groups. The district has allocated 158 million KRW in an additional budget to support electricity and city gas fees for 1,000 households with income exceeding 80% but not exceeding 100% of the median income.
The support amount will be up to 10,000 KRW per household per month for electricity fees, and up to 12,000 KRW per household per month for city gas fees.
This support for energy-vulnerable groups is part of the ‘Gwangjin-type Coexistence with the Vulnerable Project,’ aimed at alleviating the burden on vulnerable groups experiencing double hardships amid the ongoing economic downturn.
Through this project, the district aims to provide practical help to the gap groups who have not received support so far, realizing a win-win welfare that accompanies more vulnerable groups.
Kim Kyung-ho, Mayor of Gwangjin-gu, said, “The groups most affected by the increase in essential living costs such as electricity and city gas fees are the vulnerable. We hope that this support will help ease the economic burden on energy-vulnerable groups even a little.”
The first supplementary budget proposal for 2023 will be reviewed and approved at the 259th Gwangjin-gu Council extraordinary session and finalized in February. Once the supplementary budget is passed, the ‘Public Utility Fee Support for Energy-Vulnerable Groups’ will be implemented starting in March.
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