Cash grant is “election gimmickry”, suggests periodic payouts – WPA

Last Updated on Monday, 14 October 2024, 20:39 by Writer

The Working People’s Alliance (WPA) on Monday, in a lukewarm welcome, deemed the government’s GY$200,000 cash grant to all Guyanese households as “election gimmickry” and said much more must be done for the poor and disadvantaged.

WPA Co-leader, Dr David Hinds instead said government needed to pay more cash grants to counter the rising cost of living and at the same time empower Guyanese economically. “It is one-off payment rather than a structured and sustained initiative with a stated outcome,” he said.

The party recommended that a feasibility study be conducted to link a viable cash transfer policy to poverty alleviation and backed by legislation. “It must be grounded in law so that it is shielded from the whims and fancies of the political executive,” he said.

He added that the disbursement was “a baby step forward”, but stopped short of hinging President Irfaan Ali’s announcement last Thursday to next year’s general and regional elections. “We bemoan the fact that, taken as a whole, it represents more of an election gimmickry rather than a genuine attempt to address the country’s debilitating social and economic problems,” he told a news conference.

The WPA criticised Dr Ali for failing to outline plans to address “persistent poverty” facing 42 percent Guyanese who live on less that US$5.50 per day, even in the face of high double digit economic growth.

The WPA said after the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPPC) administration had rejected distinguished economics Professor Clive Thomas’ US$5,000 cash grant to every Guyanese per year, the administration embraced the idea as part of a set of unstructured ideas based on opportunism. “This is crass politics,” Dr Hinds declared.

That small opposition party, which had been an affiliate of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR)-led A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), said President Ali did not say how government decided on GY$200,000 per household and what mechanism would be used to distribute the money to ensure all citizens benefit.

Estimating that there was now a 30-billion barrels of oil equivalent offshore Guyana, he said cash transfers should be linked only to hydrocarbon revenues. Dr Hinds said a feasibility study should be done to determine whether future payouts should be to households or individuals and whether “we can afford the cash grant.”

While former Finance Minister, Winston Jordan preferred a reduction of the cash grant to GY$100,000 and distributed to each adult Guyanese, the WPA agreed with the household methodology. “We go for households because it is the most democratic way of distributing. Households, regardless of social class, regardless of race and ethnicity, regardless of whether those households are headed by women or men, we feel that it is democratic and that each household will be getting the same amount and they will not leave room for discrimination,” he said.