— over 5,400 to benefit 

THE second phase of the Government of Guyana COVID-19 $25,000 per household cash grant commenced at the Canefield/Enterprise Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) in East Canje, Region Six, East Berbice, Corentyne on Wednesday. During this process, 5,465 persons will benefit and some $136M will be injected into the region’s economy.

In the first phase of the exercise, primary households were given the $25,000 while tenants or other families who lived at the same address were issued pink slips or a query form. A verification process followed to determine if the holders of the slips were eligible before payment was made.

Regional Chairman, David Armogan, who was on site to overlook the process, said the exercise was in keeping with the commitment made by the Government.  Regional Vice-Chairman, Zamal Hussain, and Regional Executive Officer, Narindra Persaud, were also present during the commencement of the second phase of the exercise in Region Six.

“Today’s exercise is no different from all the other exercises we have been doing in this country to assist people in Guyana. As you know, this country has been hard hit by the COVID pandemic like many other countries of the world and our government, although we are a middle income developing country we are still in front of many other countries in terms of helping our people and this had to be a very brave decision by the government to roll out a cash grant to each household in our country as a relief measure from the COVID hardships we are facing,” he said.

Armogan related that the pandemic brought with it, not only hardships but unemployment and economic challenges to businesses; hence, placing many on the breadline. He added that in the Canje area, many were unemployed prior to the pandemic due to the closure of the estate by the previous administration which made it ever harder for residents. The Chairman said he hoped that the grant could assist the families and ease their hardships.
The distribution will continue in various areas in the region and recipients are asked to be patient as every person who received their slips will be entitled to the grant.