SEVERAL village leaders and members of the Village Councils of Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Upper Berbice), have benefited from a two-day financial management training programme coordinated by the Ministry of Indigenous People’s Affairs. The training which was held at the Egbert Benjamin Conference Centre, saw about 25 participants from riverine villages in Region 10, including Rockstone, Kalkuni, Haruru, Malali and Kimbai.
The Ministry of Indigenous People’s Affairs, after realising that several Village Councils have not been submitting their financial statements on time and those that are submitted, are sometimes flawed, decided to contract Anand Goolsaran, former Auditor-General, to complete an entire financial management manual.
After completing same, Goolsaran was contracted to conduct the training, which has already been completed in several regions. The exercise is being done in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
Ministry of Indigenous People’s Affairs Internal Auditor, Charles Collimor, told the Guyana Chronicle that the training is timely and aims at effectively teaching village leaders to manage their resources properly and to provide a proper record of same, so as to enhance accountability and transparency.
“They should at the end of this training be in a position to construct proper accounting, record-keeping and be in a position to submit their financial statements,” Collimor said.
He also hopes that the participants would share the knowledge gained with their fellow villagers and with new councilors, after they would have completed their tenure.
Collimor noted that on many occasions, the councillors after the three years would fail to share the knowledge with their successors, who may have no experience or very little and this too results in poor recording.
Community Development Officer for Region 10, Antonio Hackette, who is attached to the Ministry of Indigenous People’s Affairs, expressed appreciation for the training and is confident that it will benefit the indigenous villages of Region 10.