Over 5,400 Reg. Six households for second phase COVID-19 cash grant

Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Hon. Nigel Dharamlall says over 5,400 households in the East Berbice-Corentyne (Region Six) are set to benefit from the second phase of the Government’s $25,000 per household COVID-19 relief cash grant.

Speaking with DPI on Friday, Minister Dharamlall said the distribution exercise recently commenced in the region.

“The Government of Guyana as we committed to providing relief to those who were affected by COVID-19 via the COVID-19 cash grant which His Excellency, President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali launched last year which thousands of households benefitted close to $7 billion in just the first phase.

Those who have benefited, and those who didn’t get a chance to benefit at that time had to fill out a big form until verification was done to determine their legitimacy as an independent household and we have since been able to do so, and the Ministry of Finance has embarked on the second phase, responding to all those who filled out pink forms,” the Minister added.

Minister Dharamlall said distribution is also ongoing in Region Four. He said teams are fanning out across the region to ensure that every eligible household benefits.

“The distribution of these grants in Region Four has not yet been completed since it is quite massive in terms of the number of households and so the teams are still going around in Region Four, as they are in other regions in Guyana.”

In September 2020, President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali announced the cash grant initiative to cushion the effects of COVID-19 on households.  Some $4.5 billion was allocated for the first phase of the initiative. An additional $2.5 billion was also approved by the National Assembly to continue the initiative in December of that year.

As a step further, the Government distributed $1.73 billion to Amerindian communities as a one-off COVID-19 relief investment fund aimed at creating job opportunities, generating income and implementing infrastructural development projects.

For 2021, over $1.1 billion was allocated in the National Budget to boost the COVID-19 relief initiative undertaken by the Ministry of Human Services and the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development.