Days after the announcement of a $100,000 cash grant per adult citizen ignited fervent discussions throughout the length and breadth of Guyana and even abroad, President Dr Irfaan Ali has gone even further by pitching investment ideas to citizens that will see them growing the cash grant and putting more money in their pockets.
During a sod turning ceremony in Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo), President Ali noted the potential for the $100,000 grant to be used by citizens, individually or as a collective, to create bigger opportunities by investing the money in wealth generating projects.
“I want to tell you something about this $100,000. You see, every single opportunity in life can be used to create a bigger opportunity. So, if you have a village with 500 persons, who will receive this $100,000 each. Which means for every 10 persons it will be $1 million.”
“Which means for every 100 persons it will be $10 million. For 500 persons it will be $50 million. And let us say we decide that as a community, we’re going to take half of it, each one of us. We’re going to put it into a fund. And we’re going to invest it, to generate $200,000-$300,000 per person in six months.”
President Ali suggested a specific project in the agriculture sector, in the form of a tunnel house project. Tunnel houses are structures that are built to protect poultry from outside elements, while increasing their comfort and productivity. President Ali also had some words for some of the Government’s critics, urging them to think bigger.
“If you take 50 per cent of it as a collective and invest it, you could have tunnel houses to do 40,000-50,000 chickens. You can go towards producing your own hatching eggs. Table eggs. Right in your communities and villages. And creating long term, sustainable revenue streams for each person within the community. So, it’s not as simple as $100,000.”
“Its $100,000 that now offers you a collective opportunity at economic empowerment and financial upliftment. Sometimes I listen and read with amazement, those persons who consider themselves academically brilliant in a narrow, superficial way, examine a policy without understanding the breath of a policy and the possibilities a policy brings with it. And that’s the difference between an idea and a vision and being able to implement an idea and a vision.”
The President has been encouraging persons to come together and pool their resources in order to invest in agri-businesses. These and other projects form part of Government’s “Vision 25 by 2025”, which was first conceptualised by President Ali and aims for the Caribbean to achieve a 25 per cent reduction in the Region’s food import bill by the year 2025.
In particular, the tunnel houses initiative has been promoted to youths. During a breakfast meeting last month, President Ali, had conversations with a number of National sportsmen with the aim of their personal development.
Amongst the moves the Government implemented to benefit the sportsmen was a Chicken Tunnel project that would see the athletes collaborating with the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI) and Agriculture Ministry, as well as specific connections with the Bank, geared at facilitating business and house loans.
After initially announcing a $200,000 cash payout per household earlier in the month, President Ali last week Wednesday announced that this initiative has since been revised to $100,000 per citizen 18 years and older.
President Ali had explained during his announcement that this new plan not only expanded the benefits but also removed the complexity of implementing cash grants. For instance, citizens would only need a valid ID card or passport, in order to receive the money.
