Renters, legitimate households to get $200k grant, non-nationals excluded – Jagdeo

In a major announcement on Thursday, President Dr. Irfaan Ali revealed that every household in Guyana will receive a one-off cash grant of $200,000 this year.

The distribution of the grant is expected to commence immediately, with authorities putting systems in place to ensure a fair and transparent process.

Dr. Ali’s declaration came hours before a briefing by Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo, who addressed key concerns surrounding eligibility and the criteria for determining what constitutes a ‘household’.

The issue of defining a “household” had proved challenging in the past, according to Dr. Jagdeo.

He recalled during the last national census, 264,000 households were officially recorded.

However, the census may not have captured every individual, and the question of who qualifies as a “household” remains somewhat ambiguous.

In some instances “people would want to say but I cook my own pot”, or they live in separate sections of a larger property. This Jagdeo said leads to complications in determining if they qualify for the grant.

“This is where it gets tricky,” he admitted.

To address this, the government will primarily rely on data from utility companies, such as Guyana Power and Light (GPL) and Guyana Water Inc (GWI).

Jagdeo stated that just over 200,000 households in areas served by the GPL grid would be eligible. However, that database will not include residents in regions not connected to the national grid or those in riverine communities.

While some areas will benefit from more straightforward verification, Jagdeo stressed that utility data alone would not be sufficient to ensure fairness.

He explained that if a person has multiple buildings, and their name appears on the relevant utility meters, tenants in such households would need to claim the grant separately.

Jagdeo outlined that the government will apply rigorous scrutiny to prevent misuse of the system. The Auditor General’s Office will be involved in the process to ensure accountability, with special attention given to those attempting to claim more than their fair share.

The challenge is particularly evident in rural areas, where single households may be home to several families, or where multiple families may share a single residence.

In urban areas, where several families may live under one roof, households will be paid first, with provisions for additional claims by other families within the same property.

In remote communities, the process will be streamlined through local verification by Toshaos, the traditional leaders in indigenous communities, Jagdeo said.

It is also important to note that the grant will be restricted to legitimate households, and Jagdeo confirmed that non-nationals will not be eligible for the financial aid.

This aligns with what was previously done when the COVID-19 household grant was distributed, where primary and secondary households were identified in a similar manner.