Finance Ministry must address issues with cash grant distribution – Jagdeo

…545,000 cheques printed

Government has recommenceddistribution of the $100,000 cash grant following passage of the 2025 National Budget.

However, some persons have complained that their cheques have been given to other persons with similar names, while others have shown up at distribution sites only to be disappointed, since their cheques had not yet been printed.
Vice President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo said on Thursday that while he is unaware of cases wherein cheques were given to the wrong persons, the Ministry of Finance needs to address the issues and complaints associated with the distribution process.
“If it was indeed issued, then we have a problem, and we have to fix it. I would want them to build safeguards in the system to ensure this doesn’t happen,” Jagdeo said in response to a question about incidents in which cheques were uplifted by the wrong persons.

So far, a total of 545,000 cheques have been printed, and more than 200,000 have been distributed.
“They [the Ministry of Finance] have to verify, then print the cheques. So, the number registered may not be the same number of cheques printed,” he explained in noting that, in some cases, only 75% of the registrations have been verified for one location, leading to some persons being unable to collect their cheques at the same time with others.
“This is something they need to be better with,” he noted.
Asked about persons who may have fallen ill or left the country since registering, the Vice President said the cheques would be there when those persons are able to uplift them. Moreover, he
disclosed that work is already ongoing to deliver the cash grant to shut-ins, or persons who are disabled.
The $100,000 cash grant is available to Guyanese citizens who are 18 years or older. A total of $60 billion has been budgeted for this initiative in the combined budgets of 2024 and 2025.