President Ali promises audit of COVID-19 cash grant

Dec 20, 2020 News

Persons in Region Nine receiving their cash grants some time ago

Kaieteur News – President Irfaan Ali has promised an audit of the $25,000 COVID-19 cash grants currently being distributed.
This came after concerns were raised that there might be discrepancies in the distribution.

His Excellency President, Irfaan Ali

In September, the President had announced that every household would receive the $25,000 cash grant, to ease the financial effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Following this, distribution began later in September with residents from Regions One (Barima-Waini), Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), Eight (Potaro-Siparuni) and Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) benefitting first. It was stated that they were given priority due to the vulnerable economic states of those hinterland regions.

On Thursday, the President stated that he has instructed the Auditor General’s Office to conduct an audit which will verify whether or not the cash grants were properly distributed.
He further disclosed that he has asked the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security, the Ministry of Finance and the Auditor General to examine the concerns that have been highlighted on social media and by members of the Opposition, about persons not receiving their cash grants.

According to Ali, a two-tiered system has been implemented for full transparency. “The AG [Auditor General] will go back house-to-house to ensure that the houses match the payments that were made and the second tier, that will include checking on the pink slip applicants to confirm the additional families in the home,” Ali said.

He also noted that if there is any household that did not receive their grant, they can contact the distribution team and a number will also be published in the media so that members of the public can alert the relevant authorities if households were missed.

In the National 2020 Budget, the government allocated $4.5 billion for the COVID-19 relief programme. Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) is the last region to receive the cash grant and approximately $3.4 billion has been set aside for distribution in that region.