–Jagdeo emphasises; PPP/C’s latest direct cash transfer initiative is a further fulfillment of its 2020 manifesto commitment
IN a knee-jerk response to President, Dr. Irfaan Ali’s announcement of the $100,000. cash grant initiative which would benefit everyone above the age of 18 years old, the opposition is attempting to take credit for the idea which they had previously rejected through their Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan, during the period 2015-2020.
President Ali, last Wednesday, announced that instead of the $200,000. one-off cash grant per household, the government would be proceeding with the $100,000. one-off cash grant initiative which would be more beneficial to Guyanese given that some households might have had internal conflicts, among other things.

The opposition’s claim to the idea had started since the initial announcement of the $200,000. grant, but was amplified after the most recent announcement.
However, General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Bharrat Jagdeo flagged the opposition’s political opportunism during his press conference last Thursday, when he referenced Winston Jordan’s rejection of the direct cash transfer idea while serving as Finance Minister under the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR)/A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) + Alliance For Change (AFC) Government.

Jagdeo exposed the opposition’s position by playing a 2018 interview during which Jordan said: “If it is that everyone in the population would get a cash transfer, it would never fly.”
The PPP General Secretary further shot down the opposition’s claims by saying: “Jordan was the Finance Minister under APNU and today they are claiming credit for it [cash grants]. This is a minister saying it would never fly,” adding: “That is their [opposition’s] position and today they are claiming credit for the cash transfer.”
It has become a pattern of the opposition to claim initiatives, which the PPP/C Government pursues, as their idea, the PPP General Secretary lamented, noting that the latest situation is no different.

As he has done in previous instances, Jagdeo countered the opposition’s rhetoric with the fact that the PPP/C had included the commitment of direct cash transfers in its 2020 elections manifesto.
“It [cash transfer] was in our 2020 manifesto… we started off with the particular groups, children and elderly, and now we are having it for a larger group of Guyanese,” the PPP General Secretary said.

He added: “Today, they are claiming credit for it. Their track record is that in spite of all this [talk] now claiming that they want cash transfers and want billions to go to people, the Minister of Finance said it would never fly. So, we established what their position was.”
The $100,000. cash grant initiative will place over $60 billion into the pockets of Guyanese, exceeding the previous allocation for household grants.
President Ali, during his announcement on Wednesday, said: “We believe that this is the best course of action and as a responsible government, as a government that understands that we have a responsibility to ensure all feel included, a part of the system. It is important that we build a system that is robust in delivering this grant, and its simplest way, most verifiable way, was $100,000. for every Guyanese.”