According to Bharrat Jagdeo, General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Guyanese residing overseas who have a Guyanese passport or ID are entitled to receive the $100,000 cash grant.
To better serve the Guyanese, President Dr. Irfaan Ali announced that the government would be moving forward with a $100,000 one-time cash grant initiative instead of the $200,000 one-time cash grant per household. This was because some households may have experienced internal conflicts, among other things.
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During his weekly news conference at Freedom House, Jagdeo clarified certain misunderstandings and false information regarding the cash-grant program, stating that residents do not need to be residents to get this financial assistance.
“That makes Guyanese living abroad [above 18 years old] who have an ID card or a passport also eligible for the cash grant,” he stated.
However, the PPP General Secretary clarified that recipients must complete a rigorous registration process before they can pick up this money in Guyana.
He continued by saying: “The grant will not be paid overseas. We have no intention of going to New York or Toronto to register people. They will have to be here, and they are eligible as Guyanese, providing they have the necessary documents so they could receive the cash grant.”
Jagdeo further emphasized that this guarantees that individuals are not subjected to discrimination based on their place of residence.
Guyanese will get more than $60 billion from the $100,000 cash-grant program, which is more than the previous amount allotted for household payments.
When President Ali made his pronouncement, he stated: “We believe that this is the best course of action and as a responsible government, as a government that understands that we have a responsibility to ensure all feel included, a part of the system. It is important that we build a system that is robust in delivering this grant, and its simplest way, most verifiable way, was $100,000 for every Guyanese.”
Additionally, Jagdeo defended the government’s choice to depart from the original plan by pointing out: “We may have more than 600,000 individuals. We were aiming for about 300,000 households at $200,000 each; that would have been $60 billion, but we may have more than 600,000 people. It may be a bit more money, but it will be an infinitely fairer system.”
