WITH just under 20,000 persons on welfare and persons living with disabilities having already received their $25,000 cash grant, another 3,000 to 5,000 are expected to benefit from the initiative in the coming weeks.

In an interview with the Guyana Chronicle, Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Dr. Vindyha Persaud, explained that persons with disabilities who recently registered with the ministry can soon expect a call and a letter.

“We did a survey to capture persons living with disability who are not on the public assistance register and, in a few days, we will launch that for them to start going to our offices across the country to uplift the $25,000 voucher. The numbers have been coming in and the data has been analyzed,” Dr. Persaud related.

According to the minister, a total of 9,000 applications were received during the registration process. However, not everyone who registered qualified. The ministry will ensure that those who qualified will receive their benefits.

She noted that the ministry will be working along with the National Commission on Disability and the Poor Law Commission to finalise the list and do the distribution to this new cohort of persons with disabilities.

“The verification will come when we write the letter and they come over to uplift. So, by next week they will get a call and a letter. Once that number is finalised, we will start rolling out distribution. I am hoping it starts this week. It will be somewhere between 3,000 to 5,000 people,” she said.

The vouchers can be cashed at any post office, Sure Pay or MoneyGram. The minister noted that given that the vouchers are being issued mainly to disabled persons, many of whom may have difficulties leaving home, the ministry is hoping to have most of the vouchers delivered directly to these persons.

She noted that the ministry is pushing to ensure that the process is wrapped up in a few weeks, given that vouchers have to be cashed by November 30.

“We are putting systems in place. Based on the numbers, the intended modality is home delivery. We will ensure that everybody gets it before November 30 because that’s when they need to cash it,” she noted.