Govt. wants more emergency funds for ‘cash giveaways’
Govt. wants more emergency funds for ‘cash giveaways’
Kaieteur News – President Mohamed Irfaan Ali has signaled his government’s intention to head back to Parliament for more funds to support ‘cash giveaways’ and immediate infrastructural works for communities across Guyana.
President Mohamed Irfaan Ali showing some Crime stats while making his statement yesterday on live television
He made this known while speaking to the media during a recent cocktail event held at the Pegasus Suites, Kingston, Georgetown, to commemorate 50 years of friendship between China and Guyana.
Ali told reporters on the sidelines of the event: “I want people to understand, I want to work with people. I will come to every community. I will come to every door. I want to work with people. I was in ‘South’ (South Ruimveldt) and immediately, there are things that have to be done, right away”.
To support this initiative, Ali made it clear that his government will need more cash and is already making preparations to get that money from the National Assembly. He said, ‘I have already asked the Minister of Finance to immediately work on a supplementary provision”.
A supplementary provision means that the government will be seeking additional funds than what was budgeted or approved by National Assembly for a specific project and most likely, it will have to come out from the Contingency Fund.
Once that extra cash is approved, Ali promised that his government will continue to dole out handouts and other forms of assistance to citizens across Guyana. “I will go in Buxton, I will go in Canje, I will go in the Rupununi, wherever it takes, because I want to work with every single Guyanese, every single group”, Ali told reporters.
The government had already set aside a total of $5B in this year’s budget to mitigate the effects of the rising high cost of living due to the Covid-19 and the ongoing Russian Invasion of Ukraine. Consultations were held for measures to be put in place on how the money should be spent, the administration had said.
Recently, government handed out cash to sugar workers; children living with disabilities; hinterland residents; farmers among others. Millions were also used to compensate vendors, whose stalls were looted during a violent protest at the Mon Repos Market on the East Coast of Demerara (ECD). It is unclear if the entire $5B has been expended; however, in a recent press conference held by Vice-President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, he assured that there is still cash available from the allocation. Nevertheless, Ali is still making plans to access more funds for the continuation of his government’s outreach initiative.
