The rollout of the $100,000 cash grant programme – initially hailed as a transformative initiative to distribute the new-found oil wealth to the people of Guyana – is turning out to be a major failure of governance and planning by the Ali Administration. What should have been a straightforward exercise in financial relief has devolved into chaos, confusion, and inefficiency, with flaws that threaten to undermine both the programme and the confidence of Guyanese in the competence of the leadership of the government.
Disaster as a label
Initially, Guyanese were surprised that the programme was assigned to the Prime Minister’s portfolio under the “Disaster Risk Management” framework. But they now recognise the foresight, as daily reports of a disastrous execution have characterised the rollout. From the outset, the key players – President Irfaan Ali, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo, and Prime Minister Mark Phillips – have each demonstrated an alarming lack of foresight in crafting and implementing the programme.
These leaders, holders of the top three positions in the Administration and the country’s government, have each contributed in their own way to the shambolic management of the process, which remains undefined and incomplete even after some cheques have been handed out.
President Ali, with great fanfare and drama, made the announcement in the auspicious setting of an address to the National Assembly. Days later he changed the announcement, leaving to his chief lieutenant Vice President Jagdeo, first to review and revise his announcement and then to think about and announce new rules from week to week. The PM’s performance in the parliamentary debate on the appropriation of money to finance the programme was, to put it kindly, uninformed and lacking in details. It does not appear that he was sufficiently briefed or involved.
Registration
Armies of public servants and other officials have been deployed across the country to “register” Guyanese who join lines, present ID documents to have the front and back scanned, have their photographs taken, and then told to go home and wait for a call. Some of the more fortunate have already received cheques which they must then present to their bank for encashment or deposit.
This suggests that unless a Guyanese presents herself/himself for the process, she/he receives nothing. This would include shut-ins like my 95-year-old friend or the bedridden handicapped daughter of another friend. So far, there has been no word on how the registration process would work for Guyanese living abroad other than that they must be in Guyana.
In a letter in the Stabroek News, one prominent government official optimistically assured Guyanese that the Financial Management and Accountability Act would take care of these minor details.
Photographs have been published showing recipients in Region 9 displaying cheques at a registration centre. It is unclear why the Government prefers cheques over direct deposits. Cheques come with several issues. Crossed cheques require access to banking facilities, which are not easily accessible in certain regions of Guyana. Uncrossed cheques are readily negotiable and open to abuse. With the best will in the world, names are misspelt or misplaced and lost cheques must be replaced, neither of which will be easy for the recipient. Hopefully, the system is electronic, so the bank reconciliation is done automatically.
Cheque is king
According to information available to date, despite the availability of bank details for tens of thousands of public officers and pensioners, the cash grant will not be paid by direct deposits, which would prevent several of the problems associated with cheques. Another option would have been mobile banking, which also appears to have been ruled out, whether by omission or design.
The Prime Minister could not tell the National Assembly the number of people and the direct and indirect cost of registration and distribution. What is certain, however, is that the cost will be stupendous but significantly avoidable.
President Ali had initially announced the payment timing as instantaneous. But as it has done with various classes of recipients, the government has announced that some regions will have to wait while others are prioritised. In fact, Mr Jagdeo has indicated that the process is likely to protract over five months.
Conclusion
This initiative won widespread support among the population. But we need to be cautious. Since 2020, cash grants have become embedded in our economic and social policies. Indeed, having warned in the initial stages that the payment would be a one-off, Vice President Jagdeo, in his latest pronouncement, indicated that there would be more to come.
The initiative has suffered from all the elements of project management – poor planning, ad hoc coordination, and ineffective execution. The President should have applied the knowledge he earned from his postgraduate and PhD degrees in planning the programme. His leaving it to less-equipped subordinates has contributed to the current problems, costing immeasurable goodwill.
But it is probably still not too late. In Dr. Ashni Singh, the President has an eminently talented and qualified person with years of experience in the Audit Office, dealing with relevant issues such as streamlining the verification process and imposing robust controls. His appointment as coordinator would be no disrespect to anyone, but he will help in this salvage exercise.
