-Human Services Minister says
THE Ministry of Human Services and Social Security (MoHSSS) plans to create a digital registry of women-owned businesses to focus on continuous training and capacity building and establish a culinary centre at the Women Leadership Institute, as part of a number of measures catered for in its $30 billion budgetary allocation.
These were among the revelations made by subject minister, Dr. Vindhya Persaud, as she emphasised her support for the $552.9 billion national budget, when the budget debate continued in the National Assembly on Tuesday.
The ministry’s allocation will cater for a wide range of initiatives that also includes $955 million for several projects under the Childcare and Protection Agency (CCPA), $200 million in projects for persons living with disabilities, and the training for 4,000 more women under the Women Innovative and Investment Network (WIIN) Programme.
“This budget is not a budget that can be looked at in a silo. They integrate and interlock to provide a holistic approach to families across the country,” Dr. Persaud noted.
She added: “When we look at the benefits the people will achieve, they will be anxious for successive budget that will build on the robust framework this budget will provide.”
At the beginning of her presentation, Dr. Persaud traded words with Opposition Member of Parliament, Natasha Singh-Lewis, who reiterated the call for Local Government Elections (LGE), and challenged the government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in Guyana.
Singh-Lewis called for a national data collection exercise on the socio-economic impact of the pandemic on families across the country, particularly those who have had to deal with the death of family members.
Singh-Lewis also questioned the need for psychosocial support to Guyanese families who would’ve dealt with other types of traumatic events. She singled out the family of Orin Boston, who was killed in his home last September, and the family of the Henry boys, Isaiah and Joel, who were brutally murdered in September, 2020.
In response, Minister Persaud pointed out that her ministry has been offering psychosocial support to the Henry family and that one of the mothers is also receiving public assistance. She further reminded that following Boston’s death, several government ministers immediately visited the family and offered support.
“When you speak of the tragedy of the Henry boys and use it for offensive political mileage it speaks volumes of you,” she said.
She called out the political opposition for failing to focus on the contents of the national budget and using the occasion to as an attempt to gain political points.
Minister Persaud noted that notwithstanding the opposition’s attempts to “selectively and conveniently extrapolate parts of this budget for an ulterior agenda” the government will continue on its developmental trajectory with its transformational budget.
“When people come to these debates it is intended for us to critically examine the budget, and offer recommendations of a constructive nature and look at what was done and what is to come. I would sincerely like to thank and congratulate [Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance] Dr [Ashni] Singh, his members of staff and of all of the ministries for their dedicated work for crafting the budget,” she added.
