(De Ware Tijd) — The government is negotiating with the Inter American Development Bank (IDB) for a loan of about US$ 20 million to establish an emergency fund for Conditional Cash Transfers (CCT). This will serve to provide the poorest families with a monthly allowance under the condition that parents are obliged to send their children to school and regularly take them to school and the doctor for medical checkups. A few countries in the region have successfully implemented this program already.
In its editorial comment on this initiative, DWT said:
The Surinamese government wants to create a Conditional Cash Transfers (CCT) to monthly provide the poorest families with allowances. The IDB thinks aiding in Suriname inefficient based on which the question is whether the US$ 20 million for the poor will not be like carrying coals to Newcastle. Experts have never succeeded in determining who qualify for indigent, it should therefore surprise no one if party cronies will be the ones benefitting from this money. It is unclear what the after course will be once the US$ 20 million are “through” and the loan has to be paid back. The thing is that social-unrest will partly be warded off but teaching the people to work will again lag behind. The Surinamese government lacks the knowledge to create a significant social safety-net. It failed to do so in the past and the expectation is that due to lack of organization and inexperience, lack of knowledge and transparency history will repeat itself.