RESIDENTS of Supply, Mahaica and surrounding areas are keeping their fingers crossed and praying for the best today.

Today they are expected to receive their misplaced hundreds of thousands of dollars which they contributed to a Penny Bank Fund. The money was allegedly snatched from one of the trustees after she left a city bank last week.
Yesterday the Guyana Chronicle was informed that on Friday the two women who are at the centre of what has turned out to be a scandal have managed to garner $2M to refund the contributors.
One woman who spoke to this publication explained that on Friday the women announced that they had managed to secure the $2M and were ready to start repaying the contributors. However,the woman said that police at the Mahaica Police Station informed the persons that if they go ahead and receive the monies from the women on Friday last in the absence of the police, any repercussions will be to their own detriment.
With that advice the woman said, none of them received the money and a decision has been arrived at for the women to return to the police station today when it is expected that they will present to the police the total amount of over $4M.
They are expected to be escorted over to the St. Nicholas Anglican Church at Supply Mahaica where the affected persons will receive their refunds in the presence of the police.
The woman who spoke to the Guyana Chronicle explained that they were informed by the women through the police that they will be soliciting the assistance of relatives and friends and the possibility of taking out a loan to make up the amount that is required for the payout. However, this publication was not able to confirm that claim.
Last week several residents of Supply Mahaica, mostly women and single mothers, expressed grave concern and frustration after they were informed that millions which represented the payment for more than 50 persons who contributed to a penny bank fund had been stolen.
The story as given by the woman who went to withdraw the money claimed that she was robbed on Tuesday after leaving a city bank. However, she did not report the matter to the police; did not raise an alarm at the time of the alleged robbery; gave two different accounts of how she was robbed and  mentioned anything of the robbery only on the following day.
All those actions were described as very unusual ones for someone who is the victim of a robbery and that raised the suspicion of the residents who stormed the Mahaica Police Station to raise their concerns last week Thursday.
It is not clear if the two women who are presently in the hot seats will be able to follow through on their plan in securing the additional millions to repay the affected contributors today. Should the plan fall through, then the drama over the missing penny bank funds is expected to be even hotter that last week.