say interventions are timely, useful

PENSIONERS and persons living with disabilities have welcomed President Dr. Irfaan Ali’s announcement of plans to provide one-off bonuses in December, as part of interventions catered for under the $5 billion allocation that was set aside in Budget 2023 to support persons amidst rising cost of living brought on by global challenges.
President Ali, in a live broadcast on Thursday, announced that persons living with disabilities, who are on the public assistance register, will get an additional $35,000 bonus payable in December 2023. This will benefit 19,000 persons at a cost of $660 million.

Regarding old-age pensioners, a one-off bonus of $25,000 will be given in December, and will benefit 72,000 pensioners at a cost of $1.8 billion.
The Guyana Chronicle spoke to Keith Rice, 75, who lost sight in both his eyes in 2021. He said that the gesture is good, and he hopes for more in the future.
The Vryheid’s Lust, East Coast Demerara resident said that he is grateful for the additional funds, which would help him to offset his current expenses, especially the purchase of medications.

President of the Guyana Society for the Blind Cecil Morris told the Guyana Chronicle that as an advocate for persons living with disabilities, it is a good initiative.
“Living with disabilities is not reversible, and they have more needs than normal people, since they are dependent on family to assist them, and often. They are alone and it requires money to do everything,” he said.

Morris added that due to transportation costs, he is now staying at the Guyana Society for the Blind, having left his home in Kuru Kuru, on the Soesdyke-Highway.
The 72-year-old told the Guyana Chronicle that it is hard living with disabilities, and many people aren’t kind to them, but he appreciates the one-off bonus, since it is better than nothing at all.

Pensioner, Vandrene Spencer, 77, who is a volunteer at the Guyana Society for the Blind, said that she is extremely grateful for the one-off bonus of $25,000 for December, as it will assist her in many ways.

“I am very thankful to the president and the government for this bonus; it means a lot to me personally,” she said.
Spencer is living on the Highway, and when she could afford it, she would pay $1,000 one way to the city to go and assist people with disabilities, since this is something she has been doing since the 1980s.

“I do what I can for these people who cannot see, and I feel good about helping them; my way of giving back,” she said.
Simone Poole, who is an employee at the National Commission on Disability (NCD), told the Guyana Chronicle that a one-off bonus for persons living with disabilities is welcoming, and she is very thankful.

As a person living with disabilities who is dependent on a motorised wheelchair all the time, the bonus is thoughtful and timely, since she, like other people with disabilities, needs added care and treatment.

Poole uses her motorised wheelchair to get to and from work from Stevedore Housing Scheme to Croal Street on weekdays, and has been employed at the NCD for the past nine years.
NCD Executive Secretary Beverly Pile told the Guyana Chronicle that she is pleased about the move to give a bonus as an additional “top up” for the month of December, since persons living with disabilities have a lot of challenges, and it is more costly for them to live.
“Persons living with disabilities need funding all the time, but this is a good step towards fulfilling that need, and the ripple effect will be beneficial for people with disabilities who are dependent on others,” she said.

The NCD employs three persons with disabilities on a full-time basis, and has on its register 18,006 persons living with disabilities as of October 20, 2023.
Another beneficiary, Lavena McBean-Powlette, told the Guyana Chronicle that she is totally blind, so additional money means a lot to her, as an unemployed person living with a disability.

Eight years ago, she was employed when she had sight in both eyes, but after she lost it, she was fired and remains unemployed. The woman is willing to work but cannot find employment at this time.