PRESIDENT David Granger outlined some of his plans, which will be realised before the end of the Decade of Development (2020 – 2029). He discussed these plans with the people of the East Bank Demerara, at a recent APNU+AFC rally held at Diamond.

At this rally, the President told the people that he had a plan to educate and equip the young people of Guyana for jobs; a plan to end squatting, where every Guyanese must have a proper roof over their heads and their children grown up in clean, decent households.

He stated that the APNU+AFC government had inherited 178 squatter settlements from the previous administration, which his government intends to regularise. In this regard, he said that a National Squatter Regularisation Commission, as well as a State Land Resettlement Commission, agreed to by Cabinet, would be put in place by March 15, 2020.

YOUTH EMPOWERMENT
“Other than food, clothing and shelter, education is the most important thing you can give to your children,” he said, adding that this is why he launched the Public Education Transportation Service, where from zero free transportation before 2015, the children now have 40 buses on the roads to provide free transportation to take them to and from schools; 12 boats in the rivers – Demerara, Berbice and Essequibo – Pomeroon and Canje; as well as 5000 bicycles. President Granger also spoke of the Public Education Nutrition Service (school feeding service), which he said has been doing a great good for many children.

“I have a plan to provide jobs for our young people,” President David Granger iterated. He stated that the Guyana National Service (GNS) was disbanded as soon as the previous government went into office. Young people, he said, depended on the GNS for training and employment.

The GNS was established in 1971 as a public service organisation, with a paramilitary component. It was, however, disbanded in 2000.

After entering office in 2015, the President Granger-led Coalition of the APNU+AFC launched the National Youth Corps at the Kuru Kuru Training Centre on the Soesdyke-Linden Highway, where children can be proud of their own campus, he said. He said that 1,000 young people from across the country will receive training with the opportunity to gain employment. These young people are between the ages of 16 and 35 and are being allowed to become involved various training programmes and initiatives under the government.

“We are going to deal with the problem of youth unemployment in this country. Young people had nowhere to go when the PPP scrapped the National Service. We have now established the Guyana Youth Corps and we will train 1,000 young people every year for the next 10 years – 10,000 young people are going to be trained by the Guyana Youth Corps,” President Granger stated.

YOUNG PEOPLE CAMPUS
He said that his government created the Sustainable Livelihood and Entrepreneurial Development (SLED), where 2,500 young people have gotten jobs; the government also launched the Hinterland Employment Youth Service (HEYS). These HEYS students are given grants to help them start-up businesses and so far under the APNU+AFC Administration 3,800 young people were able to start their own businesses.

REAL LEADER
The President stated that it demand real leaders to set up the youth initiatives that he has done. These are in an effort to prepare the young people of the nation for good employment, adding that he has also recreated the National Cadet Corps for students in secondary schools, emphasising that good leaders create outlets for young people to gain training, employment and development.

Additionally, the Board of Industrial Training (BIT) has also been playing a pivotal role in the development of young people, having some 8,000 of them trained so far and ready for employment.

“Young people you don’t have anything to fear from the APNU+AFC. We have to hand this country (over) to you and we want you to be educated and employed. So we have a plan and the plan is working; young people can look forward to having a long and satisfied career in business; in self-development under the APNU+AFC Government,” President Granger said.

The government of the APNU+AFC Coalition has, up to now, matched mouth with money. So far GYD$150B has already been invested in education. In addition, President Granger has taken it as a personal crusade to encourage young people, as well as their parents, to ensure that they take advantage of education, saying that this is the only way they can be certain of good jobs, which can then be translated into a good life.