DECLARING that the House needs guidance from the Great Spirit, new People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Member of Parliament (MP) Yvonne Pearson announced her arrival in the House during the 2015 budget debate.In her maiden presentation to the House, the seasoned Amerindian rights activist said the elections have come and gone, and efforts must now be channelled towards the building of Guyana.

She informed the House that the Government has inherited a vibrant economy, and must work hard to build on what has been achieved. The foundation, Pearson said, has been laid for greater success in the health, education, and other economic sectors through the hard work of the former Administration.

She told the House that while the One Laptop Per Teacher initiative is not bad, the Administration should not shunt aside the promise made to Amerindian communities regarding the One Laptop Per Family Programme.

Pearson said a number of computer centres have been built in Amerindian communities, but they need the systems to be up and running. She pleaded with the Government to not neglect this project, which will help more Amerindians to become computer literate and keep them abreast with developments through the information highway.

The PPP/C parliamentarian also asked the Government not to scrap the solar panel project and the Presidential Grant Initiative, as these have played vital roles in aiding the development of indigenous communities.

But Minister within the Ministry of Communities Ms Dawn Hastings, assured the House that budget 2015 is a people-oriented budget that is geared at accelerating the growth and development of Guyana.

“Better days are ahead” in Guyana, she said, contending that the recent Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) results have brought hope to Guyana.

She registered her dismay with the situation at the Kato Secondary School, where some 300 students will suffer as the school will not be completed in time for the start of the new school year in September.

The Administration, she said, wants every child to have equal access to quality education, so that all can enjoy a good life.

On that score, she said greater attention will also be placed on strengthening management of health services in the hinterland regions. She said focus will be placed on capacity-building, providing scholarships for hinterland health professionals, improving working conditions, and upgrading workers’ salaries.

Bridging gaps
The hinterland regions, she said, will also benefit from safe and adequate water supplies, as the overall goal is to bridge the gap between the “haves” and the “have-nots.”

But Hastings’s speech failed to impress PPP/C parliamentarian and former Amerindian Affairs Minister Pauline Sukhai, who rose to tell the House that the budget is largely a roll-over of PPP projects, and who claimed that not much is in it for Amerindians.

Sukhai accused the Government of dismissing some 2000 Community Support Officers (CSOs) because they were perceived to be PPP supporters; and went on to label the “decision” to send home the CSOs as disrespectful to Amerindians.

She said that only when the Government was placed under pressure did its members change their position in an attempt to do damage control.

Indigenous People’s Affairs Minister Sydney Allicock, however, clarified that the CSOs were not fired by the Government, but they were put in a difficult position by the PPP.

He said the PPP Administration had not made any financial allocation for the CSOs beyond April 2015, and none of them was issued a contract outlining the terms and conditions of their work.

Moreover, it was pointed out that the CSOs were never hired — not by even the PPP/C; and thus they could not have been fired by the current government. According to Minister Allicock, the Opposition is not on solid ground to talk about firing, as they have fired former President Donald Ramotar and PPP/C prime ministerial candidate Elisabeth Harper from coming to Parliament.

He said the electorate was very uneasy and was forced to take a decisive action on May 11 to fire the PPP/C-Government from office.

The minister also noted that, from September 1, 2015, the Youth Entrepreneurial and Apprenticeship Programme (YEAP) will be replaced by the Hinterland Employment and Youth Service (HEYS). According to the Government Information Agency (GINA), the new programme will provide sustainable jobs for youths in hinterland communities.

This initiative will also ensure that persons who had been employed as CSOs undergo training, so that they can be re-employed. HEYS is also expected to train thousands of other youths while paying them stipends, so as to ensure that they receive relevant skills that would allow them to pursue sustainable livelihoods and a good life.