THE long wait by thousands of stranded REDjet passenger for refunds after the airline was grounded earlier this year is almost over.
Yesterday the Guyana Chronicle was reliably informed that the Ministry of Public Works will begin issuing cheques to persons this week. The refunds were to start yesterday but there was a slight hitch, thus the payout could start as early as tomorrow.
Principle Assistant Secretary of the Ministry of Public Works, Derrick Jodhan, explained to this publication that the delay in the payout was the due to the decision by the ministry not to pay cash to persons, but to effect the payouts through cheques.
He said that the ministry saw the move as one that will be able to allow for better accountability since the cheques will have the receipts of issuance.
Jodhan told this publication that the list which was returned by REDjet to the Government of Guyana sometime back had to be double checked to ensure that everything was in order. Yesterday he confirmed that everything was in order and government was in a position to start issuing the monies.
He also confirmed that the money was released by the bank for the payouts, but the ministry, instead of sending persons to the bank to receive those monies, it decided to open another account which the money was placed in and the cheques that will be written to passengers will come directly from that account. He cited the fees that would have been charged to the ministry had the money remained in an account in the name of the ministry.
This publication was also informed by the senior ministry official that that the payout will be made to approximately 700 families and the money available for the payout at this time is some $26M.
Asked about the status of those persons who are on the list to be refunded, the ministry official said that most of them are in Guyana and those who are not in Guyana would have left persons whom they authorized to collect the monies on their behalf.
The amount which is available for payout is not a representation of everyone who needs to be refunded by the airline. The list which is available to the ministry is the appraisal list sent by REDjet.
Persons who are desirous of ensuring that their names are on the appraisal list of persons to be refunded can call the Ministry of Public Works on telephone number 592 227 5344. On that number, persons will be able to speak with the principal assistant secretary of the ministry who is tasked with addressing the REDjet issue.
REDjet was a low cost carrier which entered the Guyana market and after a few months of operation failed to fulfill its obligation to passengers after it was grounded.
The payout to stranded passengers comes almost two weeks after another low cost carrier EZjet was grounded following what is largely being touted as a financial problem.
Passengers of that airline have not been getting any satisfactory word from the carrier.
However the Government of Guyana has moved in and addressed the issue by engaging Caribbean Airlines to assist passengers stranded by the latest grounded airline.