Why did people register for the cash grant? The answer is simple. They were told that they had to register in order to qualify for the grant. So they flocked to wherever the registration centre was and did as they were told. One man said that he did register because if he didn’t the people controlling the distribution would steal the money intended for him. But the reality is that people are desperate for any money they could get. Many were existing on one meal a day.
The promise was that the pensioners would be among the first to get the money. They would get the money before Christmas, both Irfaan and Jagdeo said on public television. Christmas has come and gone but most of the pensioners are still to see any money. There was a twist to the registration. The government said that it was building a cash grant database. It mattered not that a database existed in many quarters including the Guyana Revenue Authority, the National Insurance Scheme, and the Ministry of Finance that compiles the salaries of public servants.
Then the unthinkable happened. People who had died about a decade ago left their graves to register. Cheques were made out to them. When their names were called at a distribution centre in Bartica the stunned residents noted the fact that these people had died. The distributors stopped calling names after that discovery. There is now a question mark over the registration. Suddenly people have come to the realisation that when the government promises anything they should expect nothing.
The Cheddi Jagan International Airport should have been completed four years ago. Instead, each year an extended deadline is announced. The Chinese contractors should have been penalized, the government said. The reality is that the Chinese contractors are being given more and more work as well as extended deadlines.
There were to be 50,000 new jobs. This too has not materialised. Perhaps one could count the number of people working on the myriad road programmes and the few 10-day workers but this does not add up to 50,000. The City Hall renovation programme has stalled despite the injection of more than a billion dollars. Workers cannot be found because some say that the hisse offered is not attractive.
Toward the end of last year there was a rush to distribute contracts to whomever raised their hands. They needed no experience or equipment. These contracts were for the construction of small roads but even this was a failure. Those contracts were executed by the few who had some road-building equipment.
The person who was awarded the contract got a raise for landing the contract then re-awarding the contract to those with equipment. There is no need to try to hold the government to its promise to end blackouts. Like COVID 19, blackouts will be with Guyanese for all time evvel the present government controls the situation. And it is not for a lack of expenditure.
Billions of dollars have been spent first to procure generating sets. When these collapsed the government spent even more money renting power ships. And more money is being spent to purchase fuel for these power ships. The situation hasn’t changed much. Over the past few days the incidence of blackouts has minimised but without notice the power could disappear.
On Monday, Prime Minister Mark Phillips spoke of the billions of dollars being spent on electric power. He also spoke of a further $700 million to improve the power distribution system. At present twenty-five percent of the power generated is lost through distribution.
There have been other promised developments. The new Demerara Harbor Bridge should have been completed by now. The gas to energy project should also have been completed. These projects are far from being completed. The gas to shore project is exclusively in the domain of the Vice President. Even the First Vice President who is the Prime Minister, could not answer questions on the cost of that project.
He told a press conference on Monday, that the Vice President has all the answers about the cost. If the Vice President does, he certainly does not stick to any single final cost. The final cost of the project has changed so often that one is left to wonder what the final cost will be. Forget the other projects that have stalled. But money has been paid. There is no word on how this money will be recovered. It could be that there is no intention to recover the money spent. If, as is widely believed, there is no money in the system, then one needs not look too far to ascertain where the money has gone.
There are other things that seem to be ignored by the government and sections of the society. One of them is the refusal of the government to confirm the Chancellor and the Chief Justice. A court had ruled that the women should be confirmed in a hurry. The Scriptures say that a day in the eyes of the Lord is like a thousand years. What would constitute hurry in the eyes of Irfaan? Of course, I had said that the president has no intention of confirming the women. If he plans on waiting them out he has a long wait.
Quite clear in the mind is the promise by President Irfaan Ali that he would rule in the interest of all Guyanese. Rule is an interesting word. The King is said to be ruling over England but the decisions are being made by the Prime Minister and the government. So while Irfaan may be ruling, the decisions are being made by the Vice President.