…South Rupununi villages most recent beneficiaries
Close to 2000 households have so far benefited from government’s monetary assistance to Region 9 residents who were most severely affected by the flood earlier this year. So far, over $21.7M has been disbursed to residents in the North Rupununi, while another $15.5M is being disbursed in the South Rupununi, bringing the total disbursement to over $37M.
The recipients from Karasabai and other villages in the North Rupununi District were among those selected through a collaborative effort by the Regional Administration, the Village Council, and the Amerindian Affairs and Agriculture Ministries, who were tasked with identifying such persons. Each received a cash incentive of $20,000.
The Ministry of Amerindian Affairs continues to play an active role in ensuring that the monetary assistance is delivered to residents in the region in a timely manner.
And so, on October 13, Minister of Amerindian Affairs Pauline Sukhai and a team, including a representative from the Auditor General’s office, visited Aishalton to execute payments to residents as part of the third phase of assistance being provided by government to the flood affected victims.
Officers from the Amerindian Affairs Ministry are currently conducting payments in the South Rupununi District, which includes Aishalton and other neighbouring villages, where over 770 households are slated to benefit.
The first and second phases of assistance to the affected, were to remove families from the flood waters and move them into shelters. This was done through effective mobilisation of human resources to manage the shelters and ensure peoples’ well being.
The second phase was to preserve as much of the food supplies in the communities as possible, including crops that were not destroyed. With this in mind, equipment such as cassava mills and storage containers, among other items, were provided to residents in the communities.
Aishalton was one of the communities which benefited in this phase.
In her address to residents, Minister Sukhai emphasised the importance of accountability and transparency with regard to managing finance at all levels of government. She stated that the inclusion of the Auditor General’s representative on the team is a demonstration of government’s practise of these two principles.
She emphasised that the cash incentive is part of the approved response by the government to the disaster which affected residents of that region.
She said that the government has always been supportive of its people both in times of disaster and celebration.
During the recent Amerindian Heritage Month celebration, Aishalton was the recipient of over $2M in monetary assistance from government and for hosting the Heritage Day celebrations.