After five years of pumping oil, Govt hands Guyanese 18 and over $55 per day

Dec 06, 2024 News

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Kaieteur News- The much touted $100,000 cash grant to every adult Guyanese works work out to some $55 Guyana dollars per day for the five years since this country has started pumping oil.

Government, this week, rolled out the pay-out initiative in Region Nine and has sought to make it the centrepiece of its policy in giving back to citizens.

Speaking in one of his social media commentaries this week, Businessman Glenn Lall said it is an insult for Guyanese to be receiving $54 Guyana dollars a day after five years of oil production here.

“After five years of ExxonMobil pumping our oil and walking away with tens of US billions, every Guyanese over 18 is set to receive just one American quarter – 25 US cents – a day. Yes, that is what Guyanese worth after five years of pumping oil. That’s right: $54 Guyana dollars a day.  Fifty-four dollars! That can’t even buy ah ¼ lb. plantain…” Lall, a fierce critic of the lopsided oil contract the coalition government signed with ExxonMobil back in 2026, said.

Lall said $100,000, which is less than US$500, is being thrown at Guyanese after the pumping of oil for 1,825 days in this country. “This is what the government and opposition have reduced all of us to, with that unprecedented oil discovery made in Guyana. And to add more insult to that injury, you have to join three lines, on three different dates, at three separate locations before you can get that $100,000. That is what the PPP is proud of while the PNC and AFC are silent…”

The businessman recalled joining Mr. Ray Daggers, earlier this year, on a protest walk from Moleson Creek in Berbice to Charity on the Essequibo Coast. Lall said it was hoped that more Guyanese would have joined the walk “to overturn that contract, to get what we truly deserve, but just a handful of persons joined in and walked with us. Today, had you raised your voices and marched with us in droves to bring about that change, all Guyanese over 18 would not have had to join three lines at three different times to collect that $100,000.”

He added: “You didn’t have time then to join that walk, but now you finding time to line-up in that hot sun or pouring rain to register as a citizen, then line up again to collect the cheque, then go to the bank to line up again to cash that cheque.”

Telling citizens that they deserve better, Lall said, “This is not what your children deserve and certainly this is not what our ancestors fought for. And until you ready to stand up and raise that voice to demand a referendum before any elections, so that you and I can decide what deal we want from that oil, $54 or 25 US cents a day will be the reality.”

The administration has prioritised public servants and pensioners over the last several days, with registration schedules for National Insurance Scheme and Old Age Pensioners disseminated to the public via the media.

Moreover, public registration for the cash grant commenced on Tuesday in several areas, including Region Four and outlying areas. The government has outlined a four-step process for the initiative, which begins with the registration exercise comprising each community having a registration schedule, then technical teams with pre-programmed Tablets will be dispatched to gather persons’ data. The second stage is the verification of the registrants with the next stage being the cutting of cheques then distribution to persons 18 and above.

Government’s $100,000 Cash Grant Initiative was announced by President Irfaan Ali in October and every Guyanese citizen 18 years old and over will receive the pay-out.

Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo, last Thursday, announced that while the government is looking to distribute the $100,000 one-off cash grant to public servants and pensioners first – not every citizen will receive theirs before Christmas. Jagdeo said, “What I can say to Guyanese is that they will get it, not everyone will get it before Christmas. A lot of people ask, “Oh, will I get it before Christmas?” But I would say to people, you still will get it…and it might come in good after Christmas.”

The Vice President said that he had previously stated since the cash grant initiative was first announced in October, that the process would take the government about five months to complete. “The president said that we are trying to hurry this up to see if we can complete at least the public servants and the pensioners before the end of the year. We may be able to do that and then a number of other people who are registered…” Jagdeo noted.

Last Wednesday, the Committee of Supply approved $30.5 billion to cater for the distribution of the one-off $100,000 cash grant to citizens 18 years and above. This is expected to cover the first phase of the distribution and includes public servants and pensioners. Jagdeo also disclosed that the government is aiming to distribute the cash grant to about 300,000 persons before the end of the year. Jagdeo noted that the 2025 budget which is expected to be passed by February, will cater for the second phase of the distribution of the $100,000 cash grant.

“And then we can seek to appropriate the balance of the money, we anticipate that it will be about another $30 billion because we think about 600,000 adults you have in the country, or just over that…” the Vice President stated.

The Vice President noted that the government anticipates that in the future, there will be similar grants. As such, he noted that once the government completes the database for the distribution, the future distribution will become easier. Once this initiative is completed, $60 billion would have been placed in the hands of citizens across the country.

(After five years of pumping oil, Govt hands Guyanese 18 and over $55 per day)

(Govt hands Guyanese)

 

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• $55 Guyana dollars, centrepiece, Guyanese works work, lopsided oil contract, Moleson Creek

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