No cash grants for dead persons- finance ministry

Last Updated on Thursday, 26 December 2024, 11:44 by Writer

The Ministry of Finance has scotched rumours that the GY$100,000 cash grant cheques are being processed and delivered in the names of dead persons, while warning that anyone caught attempting to cheat the system would be handed over to the police.

“Should anyone have information to suggest that there is any instance of, or attempt to process payment of the cash grant for a dead or otherwise ineligible person, the matter should be reported immediately to the police for a criminal investigation and legal action,” the finance ministry said.

In terms of the actual distribution of the cash grant cheques, the finance ministry says the controls include the need for beneficiaries to go personally with either a valid ID or Passport to collect their payments. At this point, the officers distributing the cheques must take a picture of the beneficiary and compare the person’s image with his/her picture on the signature sheet before handing over the payment, government added.

“Since the beneficiaries would have to encash their cheques at a bank, where similar scrutiny will take place before actual cash is received, this measure would also prevent payment to any dead person,” the finance ministry added.

Government sought to assure that the “robust system” includes several layers of controls to eliminate the possibility of a dead person being processed and provided with a cash grant.

Those include eligible citizens desirous of applying for the grant to physically present themselves both at the time of registration and uplifting the cash grant. The finance ministry said that measure is specifically intended to ensure that only people who are eligible, alive, and physically present for the registration are processed.

After applying for the cash grant, the finance ministry said a high-level technical team comprising information technology (IT) specialists, auditors, statisticians, and accountants scrutinizes those records to ensure that the eligibility criteria are satisfied. Government says these include verification that the registrant submitted a valid identification (ID) card or passport, the person is 18 years or older as of January 1, 2025, and a picture is taken of each registrant.

Government says eligible citizens, who fail to comply with these criteria, are placed under query and not processed.

The finance ministry also says that Internal Auditors of the Ministry of Finance and Audit Office of Guyana are monitoring the implementation of this initiative in real-time, at the various centers where the cheques are distributed as well as virtually.

“It would be criminal for anyone to accept payment for which he/she is not eligible,” the ministry added.