Dear Editor,
As Members of Parliament, we took an oath to represent the people of Guyana without fear or favour, affection or ill-will and in keeping with that oath we consider it our duty to inform all of what is nothing short of blatant disrespect and disregard for the Guyanese people.
The unfair and callous way the PPP/C government is distributing the COVID-19 $25000 cash relief grant is hurting the people of Region One and more specifically our Indigenous brothers and sisters. When the complaints came to our hearing on October 4, 2020, we said to everyone who complained that according to the President every household will receive the cash grant and advised them to allow the week to finish before we draw any conclusion.
The week (October 4 -10, 2020) has ended and so too has the distribution in Region One. Well at least the first phase of the distribution. We are assuming that there will be a second phase because some heads of households received a ‘pink slip’ instead of the $25000 and were told that when more money comes they will get their share. But let’s focus on the more than six hundred million that was already distributed in Region One and how it was done.
We are of the opinion that a household is one family and ideally speaking it means a father, a mother and children under one roof. But realistically speaking, Guyana has many families under one roof. Even in Georgetown you find more than one family living under the same roof. A family may be renting the downstairs of a house or sometimes the downstairs is divided into two apartments and is rented out to two different families and another family may be living upstairs of that same house. Editor, this is exactly the situation in Region One. There are multiple families living under one roof but that is not the issue. The duplicitous behaviour of the people that are distributing the COVID cash grant is the issue and the fact that the Regional Chairman and Vice Chairman who are both aware of this issue and more so because they seem not to care is worrying to say the least.
Editor, riverine communities with indigenous families perceived to be supporters of the PPP/C are all happy because regardless of the number of families under one roof, they all got the $25000 but when the distributors go to riverine communities that are perceived to be coalition supporters only one single person gets the $25000 regardless of the number of families living under the roof. This is the complaint both MP Ganesh Mahipaul and MP Ronald Cox received and it is a travesty and great shame to know that this very administration which champions Indigenous rights is turning a blind eye to it.
Another complaint we received is that people who are renting houses are not getting the COVID cash grant and in all cases these are people who are living for over 15 years in Kumaka and other communities. If it is true that once you are renting a house, COVID-19 does not affect you then we are ready to rent a mansion.
How can the PPP/C be so blatant in the distribution of state resources? Clearly the statement about serving all Guyanese at the ceremony to install the President is just words. The practice that is taking place in Region One is a clear case of political discrimination.
Yours faithfully,
Ganesh Mahipaul, M.P.
Ronald Cox, M.P.
