Jagdeo: ‘everybody will get their cheques’

Vice President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo has assured that everyone who registered for the $100,000 cash grant will receive a cheque, urging citizens not to be swayed by misinformation.
“We made a commitment—everybody will get their cheques, including shut-ins… Shut-ins should not even come out. We’ll get it to them, eventually,” Dr. Jagdeo told reporters at his last press briefing.
Addressing concerns about difficulties in uplifting and cashing the cheques, the Vice President stated that he had asked several individuals, including government ministers, to provide feedback on the situation on the ground.
He explained that, in some cases, cheques were not immediately available at a specific location when a payee arrived but were later made available.
“Sometimes, there are issues at the locations when sorting the cheques. If it’s in Georgetown, for example, the cheques may be sent to a different location, so the person shows up at the wrong place—even though it’s on their form. Since we’re dealing with humans, mistakes can happen during the sorting process. But that gets highlighted more than the work being done across the country,” Dr. Jagdeo said.
He continued: “We tend to focus on the complainers… For every person who has a problem, there are two hundred others who went through the process smoothly. If people have issues, we will fix them.”
The Vice President further stated that wherever incompetence or negligence occurs, the government will address it. However, he emphasised that he cannot overlook the hard work of the hundreds of Guyanese involved in distributing the cheques.
“A lot of people don’t want to wait—they believe everyone should be at the front of the line. So, you get confusion. The people working at these locations are human too, and they have to follow a process,” he noted.
Regarding concerns raised by the Opposition about taking photographs of recipients, Dr. Jagdeo defended the practice. He explained that taking pictures serves as verification to ensure the cheques go to the correct individuals, preventing cases where unauthorised persons attempt to collect them.
He also dismissed rumors that the cheques are only valid for three days, clarifying that this misinformation had caused unnecessary panic, leading people to rush to the banks in large numbers.