Dear Editor,
The government’s Covid-19 Relief pledge of $25,000 to each citizen is farcical. This is a statement based on the experience to date, of many others who are still to benefit from this programme. These people hail from various districts. The $25,000, although grossly insufficient, was welcomed by most citizens. People have experienced hardship since approximately March 2020 when the pandemic spread to Guyana. Hence, the announcement from the President of the financial assistance, was still appreciated by those seeing uncertainty in their economic positions.
According to my neighbours, the distribution team passed my house. I am left perplexed with regards to the reason. The next day, on my way home, I encountered the team of two females and a policeman heading away from my house. I stopped and told them that they had passed my house and one of the females responded by saying that I wasn’t at home. That would have been a smart response. I recognised her as being one of the team who had visited my home as part of the voter registration process, prior to the national and regional elections of 2020. This immediately made me feel that this would be another fiasco, if judged by the mayhem of the voter registration exercise. She told me that they were returning to my street the next day and they would come to my house. That was about two months ago and up to this date they haven’t come.
It is strange that the clarion voices that reveal the dereliction of duties and corruption of government officials are quiet on this issue. Maybe they don’t want it to appear that they need this paltry sum. However, in a time of such a crisis, this should be a government’s duty and supported by all and sundry. The system of this relief seems to give credence to the cries of despair from many people who claim that they have not received their allotment. This distribution process is not rocket science. It should be a simple procedure conducted through a relatively small population. Apparently, pink slips are being given to tenants, with the assurance that they will receive the cash later. This arouses curiosity about how that system is unravelling. The money should be left with someone at home in an apartment or house who indicates that he/she is the person in charge or a senior and responsible member of the household. The person would produce identification and sign as having received the money. In lieu of that procedure, a name and telephone number of the appropriate person in the household could be obtained so that person could be present at the next visit.
This distribution displays starkly the need for us to catch up with technology. The United States’ government is utilising this ubiquitous technology in the distribution of multiple stimulus checks, which they are getting to their citizens with rapidity. Paying lip service to the needs of the population is no longer acceptable. Any ploy intended to garner perennial loyalty is no longer working as people become more educated and aggrieved over ongoing injustice. We are seeing the exodus of members of a once respected party and the desecration of Parliament. Let’s hope that in future promises made by the government, we see a reversal of their callous attitudes.
Sincerely,
Conrad Barrow
