Dear Editor,
I have read the views, opinions and suggestions expressed by Guyanese and political parties on the recent announcement by Government on the disbursement of a ‘one-off payment’ of $100,000.00 to all Guyanese; whose name appears on the Voters Registration List. I believe the viewpoints were well articulated and in my opinion can be considered ‘reasonable.’ Since the announcements by both President Irfaan Ali and Mr. Bharrat Jagdeo, there has been no mention of a definitive date or month when the payments will be rolled out, other than the initial announcement by Mr. Ali when he addressed the Parliament of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana that the then $200,000.00 payments to households will be done ‘instantaneously.’
I have carefully analyzed all the statements made by both Messrs Ali and Jagdeo and can only conclude that the matter regarding “one off payment” to Guyanese was not ventilated at the level of Cabinet, which is the highest decision-making body of the Government, but was decided amongst a group of two or possible three, including Dr. Ashni Singh. The lack of strategic planning in the implementation of such a project really exposes the PPP/C for who they are; visionless, incompetent and their only hope is to buy Guyanese cheaply with their own money. It was not until many intelligent Guyanese from individuals to political parties called out the Government, they then peddled back, came up and out with ‘Nancy’ narratives, under the pretext of listening to youths at a PPP/C youth convention in Berbice, women and their constituents that caused a change from “households to registered Guyanese.”
At the time of me putting together this missive for publication, it is exactly one week since the last announcement of the $100,000.00 per Guyanese on the Voters List. What is further embarrassing to the Government is that they are yet to inform Guyanese where the monies will be coming from and the modalities in place to ensure there are fairness in the distribution, transparency in the process and accountability at every possible level. Many Guyanese have reached out to me to ascertain whether the payments will be made from January 2025, based on what Bharrat Jagdeo announced on the 11th October 2024. Therefore Editor, allow me extra space to provide explanations to my Guyanese brothers and sisters in the most simplistic way:
Firstly, the monies for the ‘one-off payments’ were not a part of the 2024 $1.146T Budget approved in the National Assembly on February 2, 2024. Secondly, for the payments to be made, the Ministry of Finance will have to table a supplementary financial paper seeking approval for additional monies from the National Assembly. Thirdly, with the change from $200K to $100K, both Ali and Jagdeo did not say when the monies will be paid out, with the exception of Jagdeo saying that it will take approximately five months to complete disbursements. With the new announcement by both Messrs Ali and Jagdeo that the Voters List with ID cards and Passport will be the basis for effecting payments, I would like to proffer a few recommendations that the government should consider to ensure transparency, fairness, equity and accountability in the entire disbursement process.
From the time the announcement was made, persons whose names are on the Voters List have died prior to and after. To avoid monies being paid to deceased persons, there is urgent need for the sanitizing of the Voters List. This can be done by information being furnished by the general Registrar’s Office and hospitals. I am suggesting that this be compulsory.
VOTERS LIST – Since there are GECOM offices and sub-offices in the ten administrative regions, they should be the ones providing names to the Ministry of Finance for ‘non-negotiable’ cheques to be prepared. These cheques can/should be printed with electronic signatures of approving officers from Ministry of Finance.
At GECOM’s offices, political parties have scrutineers, who are present daily to conduct verification of registration. Therefore, these very scrutineers can be used in the process to ensure transparency, fairness and equitable distribution of cheques, whether by IDs or Valid Passport.
Officers from the Auditor General can be assigned at the various GECOM offices where payments are to be made, or at an alternate venue. This is to ensure that payments were made directly to registrants.
To avoid clustering and confusion at the offices, an alphabetical system can be put in place. All this should be worked out before the announcement of a commencement date for payments.
Prior to payments, there must be robust educational programs on the distribution process across regions. Again, this is to avoid confusion and misguidance.
Avoid monies moving in bags and policemen moving with guns. The temptation to be dishonest will be greater and outweigh what transpired during the $25,000.00 COVID-19 distributions.
I do not see a difficulty with payments in the hinterland areas. Toshaos and Councilors are responsible for managing their respective communities. However, there are village registers, therefore, names of eligible persons for the “one off payments” can be made available to the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs, then forwarded to GECOM for further scrutiny and verification, involving party scrutineers in the districts. Additionally, pre-signed and non-negotiable cheques prepared by Ministry of Finance with a detailed electronic list, where the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs, Auditor General’s Office and political parties’ scrutineers will all have this information in their positions. Again, this is to ensure the tenets of good governance and transparency are observed.
Political parties’ scrutineers could be assigned to GECOM offices on scheduled days for disbursements to maintain law and order. Another recommendation the Government can employ is using the Post Offices across regions. The Post Offices do have a superb infrastructure system in place, to either effect payments or have nonnegotiable cheques posted. There maybe a few challenges here, since many persons are either itinerants or they have relocated to other areas.
Also, I would like to recommend that with an already established database for pensioners at the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security, the government should utilize that to conduct a pilot testing by preparing the non-negotiable and pre-signed cheques in the name of the pensioner.
The government can pilot test the aforementioned recommendations. If there is a region with a small voting population, use that region to conduct the tests. It will allow the Government time to adjust and amend where necessary when rolling out in other regions.
Elected representatives through Municipalities and NDCs can also play a meaningful role in the process.
Editor, I trust the Government will find wisdom in my recommendations and adopt. Again, I believe if the regime truly wants to redeem itself from the chaos, confusion and corruption during the COVID-19 $25,000.00 cash grant saga, where many Guyanese were disenfranchised, I encourage and at the same time urge them to adopt the recommendations posited. I conclude by appealing to the government to ensure that best practices are implemented for a fair distribution process. There is no need for reinventing it. However, there is need for stricter measures to be taken in place. Can we do it! Yes we can! It’s all about political maturity. I patiently await the Government’s feedback on these recommendations. May God bless our dear land, Guyana.
Sincerely,
Annette Ferguson, MP
