Vice President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo has announced that government is in the process of reforming the public assistance system to ensure that vulnerable citizens can access support more fairly and quickly.
Speaking at his weekly press conference, Jagdeo highlighted complaints from persons seeking help under the programme, particularly through the Board of Guardians. He said many eligible applicants have been left off the database for reasons that were not always objective.
“The complaint has been that many of them… can’t get on to the database because they are excluded by the Board of Guardians for reasons that are not objective,” Jagdeo explained.
He emphasised that the government’s goal is to eliminate subjective decision-making and establish clear criteria to determine who qualifies. “So if you are a single parent and you’re a low-income single parent, then you should be able to qualify for benefits once you meet certain metrics,” Jagdeo said. “It’s either you meet the metrics or not.”
The Vice President noted that under the current system, some applicants feel unfairly excluded due to personal biases or disputes. In some cases, he said, persons complained that the board could only process a small number of applications weekly, despite large numbers of people being eligible.
To address these challenges, the government is developing a comprehensive system that will expedite support for vulnerable groups. “If you’re disabled, then automatically, you should be on the system. You shouldn’t have to run around,” Jagdeo pointed out.
He assured that work is already underway and the reformed system is expected to be rolled out next year. The new framework, he added, will enable applicants to be swiftly entered into the database based on existing criteria and receive benefits without unnecessary delays.
