Overseas-based Guyanese eligible for $100k cash grant; App being developed for distribution

The Government of Guyana is currently developing a mobile application for persons to register for the much-anticipated $100,000 one-off cash grant. This was announced by Vice President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo who on Thursday said the App is being developed and tested by the Ministry of Finance and other agencies.

During his weekly press conference, he noted that “the App would have some compulsory fields people will have to fill up before the cheque is processed; so, name, address, phone number, passport/ ID number. They’re building a geolocator so you can know where people are.”

The geolocator will ensure that eligible persons are in Guyana.

The Vice President noted that overseas-based Guyanese are eligible for the grant once they possess a National Identification Card or a local passport, but must be in Guyana to uplift the money.

“The grant will not be paid overseas. We have no intention of going to New York or Toronto to register people, they have to be in Guyana to register here and they will be eligible as Guyanese, provided they have the requisite document to prove such,” he told reporters.

The $100,000 cash grant is being given to each Guyanese adult. The sum will be paid in the form of a cheque for coastlanders.

“Once verified, the cheques will be cut,” Jagdeo said.

He said in the hinterland regions where banks are not as accessible, a different system will be put in place which can be carefully scrutinised.

The Vice President assured that the Auditor General Office will be a part of the process to ensure accountability and transparency.

The AG office currently scrutinises the ‘Because We Care’ cash grant distributed to each school-aged child by the Ministry of Education.