– will be done periodically
The $100,000 per adult citizen grant will be done mostly by cheques to ensure better transparency and record keeping, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday said as he announced that citizens can expect future periodic payouts.
“This is going to happen periodically in the future. It is not going to be a recurring thing every year as they are saying. It is dependent on affordability because we don’t want to become like some other countries that distribute money only and then they collapse some years later,” Jagdeo told a press conference he hosted at Freedom House, Robb Street, Georgetown.
“We are thinking about this. It is a sustainable thing for us. We can do this periodically – give our people some money and still do the infrastructure … balancing the interest. You don’t have to do one at the expense of the other. Our people can benefit, that is what we are about; balance in a sustainable way,” he added.
Jagdeo said that as immediate plans are in place for the modalities of payment, most of the money will be distributed to citizens by cheques and in person. “We are hoping to do most of the transfers via cheques, not cash. In the hinterland …there may be a more difficult time to get cheques because people who live in the remote parts of our country don’t have access to banks…,” he said
And as a source on Wednesday explained to Stabroek News, Jagdeo said that the government hoped to have the process completed in five months.
“We will start as soon as possible but the systems have to be in place to avoid corruption. Now with this $100,000, it will be easier because we already have the databases of our pensioners… public servants etcetera. When we go into the villages and wards we will have to put in place a proper mechanism where they can take their passports and ID and verify that and then possibly receive their money in the form of a cheque,” he added
Throughout the process he said, it will be audited.
On Wednesday, President Irfaan Ali made a revision to his previously announced cash grant incentive, saying that instead of the one-off $200,000 per household payment, each adult citizen 18 years and older will receive a one-off cash grant of $100,000. To be eligible, recipients will have to show proof of Guyanese citizenship by way of national identification card or Guyana passport.
President Ali also said that his announcement last Thursday of a series of measures in keeping with his government’s aim of increasing disposable income, creating better opportunities, and building prosperity for all of the people of Guyana, which included the $200,000 per household cash grant, had to be revised because of a number of concerns raised.
“As is always the case with such initiatives, my government’s aim is to ensure ease of implementation, removal of barriers to access, and simplification of administrative procedures, always in the best interest of the population. It goes without saying that, in the normal course of implementing any government policy initiative, pre and post-testing and analyses are critical to ensure the greatest impact and highest level of efficiency in the delivery of service,” Ali said.
“Over the past week, thousands of Guyanese have engaged myself and members of my Cabinet providing extremely favourable feedback on the measures I announced last Thursday, and tens of thousands have publicly expressed their welcoming of these measures. Particularly in relation to the announcement of a one-off cash grant of $200,000 to every household in Guyana, several persons have indicated to my government the complications they foresee in the implementation of this much welcomed benefit and fear of being left out,” he added.
He said that the complexities and some of the feedback that the government received included internal family conflict about access and internal distribution of the grant, a rush to transfer registration of utility meters, and a rush to prepare tenancy agreements all with the aim of establishing a distinct household, as well as other complications that might arise.
It was to this end, he said, that he instructed that the measures be reviewed to better cater for a wider cross-section of the population and to ensure that those who needed the money most got it.
