Dear Editor,
The Opposition and its minions have been haggling for a “clean voters list” for the next general elections. Well, the present cash grant payout is a case in point.
Every Guyanese person 18 years and above would be eligible for the payout. The main feature in this exercise is that a person’s identity has to be verified by a photograph affixed to their verification before they can qualify to be a recipient.
The Government is ensuring that a folio is made of all living persons who are entitled, so that one person, and only one, gets the grant. There will be no duplication of the payees, and anyone turning up for a repeat payout would receive the full brunt of the law.
Now, compare this exercise with the one undertaken to compile the national register of voters and you will see a striking similarity: all registered voters must have a photo-identification placed alongside their names. That certified document is placed in a folio for future reference whenever the individual turns up to vote.
Those eligible voters who have voted would then have their fingers inked before leaving the polling station. Dead or deceased persons cannot vote, as they are automatically excluded from the process.
Now, this exposes the Opposition’s spurious claim that dead persons are on the voters list, and these turn up to vote on election day. The answer is yes there are examples of persons who are deceased on the list, persons would have died in the interim; for example, persons who have died from accidental deaths. However, there can be no claim that dead people are turning up to vote, because that cannot take place! The certification process of persons eligible for a cash grant nullifies the Opposition’s claim of corruption. The present process condemns them to that place in history: a shameless and diabolical bunch who are nitpicking their way along.
The political landscape in Guyana is full of such disgruntled persons.
