Sporadic cash hand outs will not take Guyanese out of poverty

Jun 11, 2022 News

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…govt. urged to start citizens off with small, consistent cash transfers

Kaieteur News – Instead of the random doling out of cash transfers via one off grants to particular groups within the country, local commentators continue to urge the government to take a structured and impactful approach to such an initiative so as to ensure more Guyanese benefit.

The government has provided among other things, one off payments of $100,000 to disabled children, $150,000 to fishers, $25,000 to riverine communities and about $1B in free fertilizers to be distributed to farmers. While the transfers will support these various groups, concerns remain over the fact that the distributions do not seem to be provided from an equitable standpoint.
Political analyst, Dr. Henry Jeffery, has also raised his voice against the manner in which the government is currently distributing the budgeted $5B relief fund. During the Politics 101 show Thursday, Jeffery maintained that any distribution of cash for a purpose such as the cost of living emergency must ensure that it reaches every Guyanese especially those who need it the most. The current mechanism is not serving that purpose, Jeffery posited. He submitted therefore that instead of the random handouts, the government could distribute an equitable sum to all Guyanese.
He said that at first, the government might not be able to give much, “…but you can give people US$100 a month as a start, and gradually, as the income comes in, you increase that. What it means is that you make an equitable amount of money available…universally, to see that everyone receives something.”
He added, “But the idea is clear, that nobody should go to bed in Guyana without (getting from) this basket of goods. That is what cash transfers try to do.” Jeffery reiterated that it has to be a consensual approach to give equitable sums to everybody at a particular time; “and the normal thing is to prevent anybody from failing below a certain line of poverty.”
Jeffery, once a minister of government, noted that when the proposal for a Universal Basic Income (UBI) was put forward by the Working People’s Alliance (WPA) Dr. Clive Thomas, negative responses came that persons would not use the money to elevate themselves. These comments he called, “old time thinking” especially when other nations around the world, including first world nations, provide UBIs to their citizens.
Jeffery related however that the current hand outs under the $5B sum can be described as cash transfers; even the “Because we care” school cash grant can be referred to as a transfer. “But if you are giving money to children to go to school, you have to ensure they go to school.”
He said that the government has no record saying how many parents are receiving money but are not sending their children to school. The analyst said this very method of giving cash for school children was championed in Brazil and they had a comprehensive programme that monitored school children and intervened when parents were not doing their jobs. He said the Brazil initiative was done in a general way. But in Guyana’s case, “What they are doing now opens the door to all kinds of corruption,” Jeffery opined. The process, he said is not strict, has no criteria and methods for distribution.
“You wake up one morning, give to the farmers, another morning give to the fishermen. It is wildness.” Jeffery charged that if the money is going to be distributed in such a manner, government might do better to just provide a small transfer to every Guyanese at a particular period, knowing that no one is being left out.
The posture of the government has left much to be desired by citizens, opposition Member of Parliament, Tabitha Sarabo-Haley said, and she does not see any change coming soon. She said that the government continues to position the country to benefit itself and maintain the power it holds.
“They have put themselves on a path and the entire country on a path that they believe would work in their best interest. And so getting to a different state where everybody can feel as if they are included and apart of the process is not going to happening willing. It has to be some amount of pressure to see that shift.”
She said that the government believes that it can use money to appease supporters or those it thinks are in its favour but are receiving push back.
The parliamentarian said the government may want to give money to supporters, “but the amount of money coming out of the coffers and where it is going suggests that something is not good even in their communities they believe; they should have support.”
“They (government) believe that money will be the answer. I don’t believe money will because the amount of what they are giving is temporary and would not be able to help persons in the way that they really need help given what is happening in the country economically.”

 

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