Confusion seems to be the order of the day. The other day when a fire broke out at a bond at the Eccles Industrial Site, the firemen were confused to find that there was no water in any of the hydrants in the vicinity. Twenty-four hours later the Guyana Water Inc. had its team trying to remedy the situation. More confusion was to follow. People wanted to know the level of maintenance conducted by GWI. There has been no answer to date.
President Irfaan Ali met with the hierarchy of the Guyana Police Force to discuss the situation on the roads. Many directives were given to the police, as if any was needed. There was talk about cameras on the roadways and errant road users being charged.
After the initial flurry, there has been no more announcements of the widespread prosecution of the errant road users. And for all the talk about the traffic cameras the carnage continues. Long after the crash between two monster trucks on Sheriff Street there came the announcement that a driver had been charged.
Nothing more has been heard because that incident has been overtaken by many other such incidents. A minibus toppled on Carifesta Avenue, a truck ran the red light on the East Coast Demerara public road and slammed into a car, a car crash at Mahaicony left three people dead and car crashes in the vicinity of the Giftland junction. And these were not all.
There is a rule that people riding motorcycles wear helmets. Suddenly that rule seems to have gone through the window. Motorcyclists ride along the roadway past policemen who seem unaware of the law concerning the use of helmets. Perhaps the most confusing thing surrounds the need for registration to collect the cash grant. The government announced the award of the $100,000 cash grant to every Guyanese over the age of 18.
The initial belief was that the distribution would be automatic. All that would be necessary would be the national identification card. It must have come to the realisation of the powers that be that many people are not in possession of an identification card.
These were people who were not visited by the Guyana Elections Commission or were out of the jurisdiction at the time of the GECOM visit and could not be bothered. As far as they were concerned registration was for voting purposes and there were those who were not interested. The political parties were not aggressive in that they did not spare the time to meet with the people in the various constituencies to ascertain such things as registration. The cash grant became the incentive.
Confusion arose when the potential recipients were called to register for the grant. They are being asked to report to registration centres during olağan working hours. The working folk would be hard pressed to register unless they decide to take time off from work. These registration centres would be operating between 8:30 hours and 16:30 hours. They close earlier on Fridays. With these centres not operating on Saturdays there is bound to be confusion.
The registrant is asked to produce a valid identification card many of these dating back sixteen years. The person’s image is bound to be different. Ganesh Mahipaul, a Member of Parliament, remarked last week that a person who was sixteen when the photograph was taken would be in his or her thirties. Someone in their forties would be in his or her sixties.
So while the commercial banks and other major institutions are still accepting these cards without blinking, the government wants to take the identification further. At least this is what it wants people to believe.
So in addition to presenting the identification card or a valid passport, the government intends to have the registration centre photograph and scan the identification card and one can assume, the passport. It then wants a photograph of the registrant.This seems suspicious. All the information would be on the identification card or passport. Why the photograph?
At the National Insurance Scheme, the pensioner has been signing life certificates every six months. The records of contribution and all the information of the pensioner is there. The only missing thing is the telephone number at which the person can be contacted.
The word is that the grant distributor would telephone the potential recipient to inform him or her of the collection date. There is word that if the registrant refuses to have the photograph taken then the cash grant would be denied because the registration would be incomplete. Is there corruption involving the identification cards and the NIS pension?
Sporadically, or at least that is what is reported, people inside the NIS actually collect the pensions destined for other people whether dead or alive. It has been similarly reported that this is the case with the old age pension. Some of the old age pensioners are also NIS pensioners. The good thing is that registration is a one-time process.
Who would be the custodian of this information collected during the registration? If this information is made public, then that would reduce the suspicion. From whatever information there is, many of the people being registered would not see a cent until some time in the new year. Some should get the money before December 31. For those who receive the cash grant before Christmas, beware that prices are higher at this time. The money would disappear before you blink.
And don’t expect another cash grant in a hurry so the hard times would continue. There is further confusion. There was a report that the government was preparing cheques at an alarming rate. That means that some cheques have already been prepared but will not be paid out at this time. Why?