Government has begun the distribution of the promised $25,000 cash grant for COVID-19 relief, according to President Irfaan Ali.
Irfaan Ali told reporters yesterday that distribution started yesterday in regions One and Nine.
“A full team has travelled to regions One and Nine. [Using] the plan they have it will take six days [to cover both regions],” he explained, while adding that the rest of the country will also begin receiving their grants this week.
“We’ll be working on other hinterland regions and the coastlands simultaneously, reaching every household,” he assured.
Ahead of the national budget presentation, Ali had announced a slew of relief measures, including a $25,000 per household cash transfer to cushion the effects of COVID-19.
“We are hoping that this can help in some way to support families, many of whom do not have enough food to put on the table at this moment. So this $25,000 per household, I know, will go a far way in supporting those who are vulnerable and in critical need. That is why we are pursuing this direct cash transfer to every household,” Ali said when announcing the initiative during a press conference at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre.
While the president did not indicate whether the sum will be a one-off transfer, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo later informed that the money will be distributed to each household.
He added that an extensive form has been developed that has the name of the recipient and their identification information and the monies will be given in the form of vouchers with security features that will make them hard to duplicate. He explained that where there might be more than one family living in one home, representation will have to be made outside of the normal distribution.
It is not clear when the distribution will begin.
