All eligible persons will get cash grants now that budget passed – VP

– says cheques that were cut could not have been distributed without budget

Lauding the work done by the Ministry of Finance not only on the budget but also the $100,000 cash grant, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo has assured that now that the budget has been passed, the cash will be available to ensure that the cash grant cheques can be distributed smoothly.
During his latest press conference, the Vice President gave assurances that all eligible persons will receive their cash grants now that the budget has passed. He explained that the budget was essential for delivering the remaining cheques, which would have to be en-cashed.
“For the five regions, we didn’t have the money until yesterday. Yesterday the budget was appropriated for every region except one, four, seven, eight, nine. And now only yesterday, now that the money is appropriated, we now have the resources to make the cheques available.”

“So even if the cheques were cut, you could not deliver or get them en-cashed. Because the resources would not be available. So now we have the resources for all the regions. And people are gonna get their money,” Jagdeo further said.
According to Jagdeo, the cash grant process, likely a reference to the verification exercise, is ongoing. Further, he made it clear that they have a responsibility to ensure that all checks and balances are followed, least the process be tainted with any allegations.
“Its ongoing. Every day its ongoing, but it takes time. It has to be done diligently and people will get their money. We’re not going to rush to do it. It’s not your money or my money. It’s the taxpayer’s money and it has to be done properly. Verification and everything else.”
“You let them cut cheques for 10 people and they’re not eligible. The same (Glenn Lall) and others will come up and say, PPP corruption. And APNU would jump on it. We’ll do it, everybody will get their money and it will be done diligently,” the Vice President added.
During the second day of the budget estimates, Prime Minister retired Brigadier Mark Phillips had accounted for the $40 Billion appropriated for the cash grant, of which $30 billion will be disseminated to the 300,000 additional citizens aged 18 and older. He had also revealed that so far 121,000 persons have received their cash grant, with cheques cut for over 300,000 still awaiting the grant.
“The people of Guyana are thankful for their $100,000… and we will continue the money in this year’s budget. We will continue and we envisage that some 600,000 Guyanese will receive their payment,” Phillips had said.

The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government’s $100,000 Cash Grant Initiative was announced by President Dr Irfaan Ali in October and every Guyanese citizen 18 years old and over will receive the payout.
To date, senior citizens along with Ministry staff, teachers, members of the Disciplined Service and some communities in the hinterland have received their grants.
It had been announced a few days ago by Finance Secretary Sukrishnalall Pasha that the ministry is preparing the schedules for the distribution of the $100,000 one-off cash grant for Regions Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, and Ten would be published within a week’s time
Pasha had also said that the ministry was simultaneously working on completing the verification process for persons who have already registered.
This effort has seen tremendous results, especially against the backdrop of the relatively small team undertaking this initiative. In fact, within one month, the ministry has been able to verify over 240,000 persons.