Ahead of unveiling its 2025 Manifesto, the Alliance For Change (AFC) today stated that within the first 100 days of an AFC Government, it would implement a menu of measures to cushion the impact of the high cost of living.
Providing an insight into the AFC’s 100 day plan, party candidate, Jaipaul Sharma, said the “sweeping” measures would include the issuance of a $100,000 cash grant to citizens.
“We can’t right all of the wrongs done by the PPP for those five years, but we are going to attempt to do it within the first 100 days. And that 100 day plan that we are putting forward, consists of a lot of measures for our senior citizens and persons living with disabilities, and also every single citizen of Guyana 18 years and above, And, I am speaking about a cash grant, and the cash grant that we are going to be paying will be $100,000 for every citizen,” Sharma said.
With a background in Finance, Mr. Sharma has been tasked with putting together the AFC’s 2026 Budget and its 100 day plan. He said the plan also includes the issuance of other grants and financial measures, including a two-month tax-free bonus for the country’s service men and women, as well as the construction of core homes for the less fortunate.
“We indicated that we will be paying $150,000 for senior citizens and persons living with disabilities. This includes of course, any person that is on the public assistance programme that is presently in the system. So, definitely we will be giving our senior citizens and persons living with disabilities more money; and this will be a feature going forward, with every cash grant, where we will treat them differently. In addition to that we want to promote 200 core homes for persons who are living presently in dilapidated buildings and buildings that are in need of serious repairs,” Sharma said.
Additionally, the 100-day plan also includes the upgrade of 200 community roads, a $300,000 grant for mothers of new born babies and a $500,000 grant to assist families with the burial of their loved ones.
As he unveiled the party’s ambitious plan, Sharma told reporters that it will be financed using money that he believes is currently being lost to corruption.
“So, the PPP produced a budget of $1.382 Trillion and in addition to that, they went to ask for sixty something billion supplementary…The financing of those things that I mentioned there, we could do, that same budget, that same $1.382 Trillion Budget, about $300 Billion of that is corruption. So, that $300 Billion will go to all those programmes and many more,” Sharma said.
Chairman of the AFC, David Patterson said the party will not halt support programmes started under the PPP/C but will build on those initiatives to ensure Guyanese benefit even more through an efficient system.
Patterson assured that the AFC’s plans for the country will be disclosed when it unveils its Manifesto. Already, the party has been providing snippets for the Health, Education and Public Infrastructure Sectors.
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