$100K for every citizen 18 years and above
Kaieteur News – President Irfaan Ali on Wednesday announced that instead of his initial $200,000 per household cash grant, every Guyanese citizen who would have attained the age of 18 years as of January 1, 2024 will be entitled to a $100,000 one-off-grant.
His Excellency, Dr. Mohammed Irfaan Ali.
Ali said that the initiative is in keeping with the government’s aim of increasing disposable income to create better opportunities and building prosperity for Guyanese. He said the initiative will also remove barriers to access and simplifying the administrative processes in the population’s best interest.
“These analyses are critical to ensure the greatest impact and highest level of efficiency in the delivery of service. Over the past week, thousands of Guyanese have engaged myself and members of my Cabinet providing extremely favourable feedback on the measures announced last Thursday and tens of thousands have publicly expressed their welcoming of these measures. Particularly in relation to the announcement of a one-off cash grant of $200,000 to every household in Guyana,” President Ali said.
Highlighting that over the past few days, the government observed a rush to transfer utility meters and also prepare tenancy agreements, which were all aimed at establishing independent households. Reexamining the previous measure with the aim of expanding the benefits, the President said that last Friday, he asked for a reconsideration that was guided by the following principles:
- Reducing the burden of administering the benefit
- Simplifying the procedures for accessing the benefit
- Improving ease of verification
- Minimizing any potential conflicts that may arise whether within the family or in the community
- Ensuring an open and transparent verifiable system of delivery
- Expansion of the benefit.”
He said once a citizen has a valid Guyanese identification card and or passport, they are eligible for the grant. “Of course, this new measure of transferring $100,000 to every Guyanese 18 years and above at the qualifying date of the 1st January 2024 will cost well in excess of the $60B previously allocated for the one-off household grant. However, in the interest of ensuring the widest possible benefit is given to the Guyanese population “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 that all feel included and are part of the system, it is important that we build a system that is robust in delivering this grant,” the President said.
Additionally, President Ali said that he had recently announced the abolition of tuition fees at the University of Guyana and in response to feedback received subsequent to the announcement effective January 1st 2025, “ the tuition fees will also be abolished at all Government Technical and Vocational training institutions including all of the technical institutions, the Guyana Industrial Training Center, the Carnegie School of Home Economics, the Guyana School of Agriculture, all of these, the tuition fees will now be abolished.” This will be of benefit to an additional 3000 persons across Guyana and the decision was taken in keeping with the government’s efforts to ensure greater access to benefits for Guyanese, Ali said.
