–despite claiming to understand practical challenges of using household as unit of distribution

DESPITE claiming to be the champions of “cash transfers,” the Working People’s Alliance (WPA) has expressed its dissatisfaction with the government’s move to provide $100,000 cash grant to every person above the age of 18 years old, as an additional measure to cushion the effects of rising cost of living caused primarily by global economic conditions.

“WPA is disappointed at the government’s retreat from using the household as the unit to distribute the proposed cash transfer. It betrays a lack of seriousness and a callous disregard for basic economic praxis,” the WPA said in a statement on Monday.
President, Dr. Irfaan 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.

This, therefore, means that the WPA is against an initiative that would benefit over 600,000 people (based on current averages).
Without highlighting which economic praxis this initiative goes against, the WPA which claims it was the first party to propose the idea of cash grants, said: “We feel that giving it to each individual is in effect giving it to voters rather than families.”
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, had 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.”

Vice-President, Bharrat Jagdeo, last Thursday, also justified the government’s decision to deviate from the initial plan, noting: “We may have more than 600,000 individuals. We were aiming for about 300,000 households at $200,000 each; that would have been $60 billion, but we may have more than 600,000 people. It may be a bit more money, but it will be an infinitely fairer system.”

Dr. Jagdeo also pointed out that not only has the President acknowledged the concerns raised by citizens, but he has also pushed to enhance the policy move to ensure better delivery of service to the people.
“And it avoids putting us, the government, in an unenviable position, where we now have to prove who is the head of the household… and, just imagine; that will be never-ending in response to public feedback and concerns regarding the initial $200,000 household grant that was announced last week,” he

said, adding: “We know who our adults are, and we can prove that they are Guyanese. Those are the two criteria; those are simple things to prove, because we have documents to prove, and then we can pay the money… You can avoid duplication, and all of that.”
The WPA claimed that it understood the “practical challenges” of using the household as a unit of distribution, but maintained its objection to over 600,000 persons benefiting from a timely initiative.