ATTORNEY-AT-LAW Darren Wade has said that he has done a critical assessment of the Budget 2017 presentation presented by Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan and found several positives.

The young attorney said that after much discussion ensued on social media following Minister Jordan’s presentation he decided to take a deeper look in order to better understand budget 2017 from the perspective of a young professional.

“As a concerned citizen, after the budget was read, after all the posts on facebook about the doom and the disaster it will bring to this country, I decided to go to Parliament and sit and listen to the budget debate. I am very impressed with the programmes that the government has put forward in the budget,” Mr. Wade explained, while speaking at an interview at on the sidelines of Parliament Buildings yesterday.

The Hugh Wooding Law School graduate said that the Coalition Government’s (Sustainable Livelihood and Entrepreneurial Development (SLED) programme was one which offers new opportunities for young persons who are business-minded.

“In this programme $100,000,000 will be put aside as a grant for young people who are interested in starting a business. In addition, they will also be mentored so this is an excellent opportunity for young people all across Guyana who are interested in business to come on board,” Wade said.

The SLED initiative, he said “will allow them (young people) to become their own bosses instead of looking for a job. I must commend the government on this wonderful initiative.”

Wade was also pleased that the Juvenile Justice Bill will seek to modernise how the judiciary treats with young people who run afoul of the law.

“The Ministry of Social Protection will be bringing the Juvenile Justice Bill. In this bill several offences will be repealed. One such offence is wandering. This law causes young people to be put before the court, criminalised and embarrassed. Instead of this, probation will be in place to take care of them and reintegrate them into society.

Instead of incarceration there are alternative measures in dealing with young people. Many young people come from disadvantaged homes and very sad situations,” Wade said.

Mr. Wade also noted that Minister within the Ministry of Natural Resources, Simona Broomes reported that on her recent trip to Bolivia she was able to gain support from a renowned geologist, who will visit Guyana in order to review the University of Guyana geology programme.

“The extractive sector is a very important sector and in order to give young people an opportunity to earn from this sector they need to be properly equipped and one of the ways this can be achieved is to have a strengthened geology programme at UG,” Wade, a University of Guyana graduate said.

“There are opportunities now for us young professionals and for young people on a whole, these are opportunities which were not there before,” Wade signed off.