Vice President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo has assured that those initiatives designed to benefit ordinary citizens, like the Sustainable Livelihood and Entrepreneurial Development (SLED) Programme, will not be usurped by those in power under the leadership of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government.
The vice president was at the time addressing a gathering in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) on Tuesday, during the distribution of millions of dollars in cash grants under the SLED Programme. Some 1500 persons from New Amsterdam and surrounding communities received the grant which includes East and West Canje and East Bank Berbice. Additionally, 1253 persons from Central Corentyne collected their grant at the Albion Sports Complex. Today residents of Upper Corentyne will receive their SLED grants.
In fact, the vice president was critical of the way the programme was administered under the former A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government. He said, that the programme did not reach those most in need, but rather went to coalition members of parliament.
“We found that there was a programme called the SLED under APNU. That was there before, but they expanded the programme. And the way it was done, it was not done to help large numbers of people. It was done to help very few people. So, they did give out some cash grants, but who did it go to?”
“So, if you go today and google or read the old newspapers, you will see that members of parliament from APNU, like one MP from Region 9, got $165 million, to distribute. Today, guess how many persons can benefit from $165 Million?”
According to Jagdeo, if this money had been distributed to ordinary people, it could have helped 1650 persons if they received $100,000 each. He said that the PPP/C Government as a rule, banned any of its ministers or members of parliament from accessing the cash grant. The intended recipients, according to Jagdeo, are those with small businesses that need access to finance.
“We said first of all, ministers will not get this. members of parliament must not get the cash grant, because all of it went to members of parliament and their relatives. And we said we want to give it to people, hopefully to assist them with a small business,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Vice President explained the impact this programme is having on persons who have small businesses. And while he advised them not to spend the grant on shoes or hair and urged them to instead make good use of the money, Jagdeo admitted that the government will not be coming down like a ton of bricks on persons who do not.
“Now it’s not a lot of money. But when you think about the guy selling water in Georgetown, who approaches us and says, can I get something to expand the amount of water I sell. Or something of that nature. Then it makes a big difference to that person. So, I know that many people will not use it for business purposes. And you don’t have to worry that the government will come looking for you.”
“But that was the idea behind it. Now not everyone can get it at once. Every year, different groups of people get it. But this grant was dedicated as part of our election promise in 2020. I hope that you put these resources to good use. We have a clear plan as to where we want the country to go and all of our people must benefit,” Jagdeo explained.
The SLED Programme was redesigned by the PPP/C Government to allow for smaller business grants to be issued to a larger pool of people. In 2023, prominent Opposition MPs and congress place itself, were implicated in a damning forensic audit report into the former Government’s handling of the programme.
At the time, Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton had defended his opposition parliamentarians who were implicated, by saying that there were no rules against parliamentarians benefitting and that his MPs, despite holding positions of power, were as entitled to these cash grants as ordinary citizens.
“I personally don’t see a problem with these persons accessing the funds. And if there is a problem, I see it as discriminatory. To my knowledge these funds were available to all Guyanese and as such, these individuals were all qualified for their respective grants,” Norton had said at a press conference.
