— 250 small-business grants, incentives for job-creation projects in region, VP Jagdeo announces

SOME 800 temporary jobs will be allocated to Linden as the government moves to cushion the impact of the high cost of living as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This announcement was made by Vice-President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo during a meeting with Lindeners at the Watooka Guest House in the mining town of Linden.

The well-attended gathering included scores of persons who travelled all the way from the riverine communities in Region 10 to listen to the Vice-President, who also informed them that the temporary job programme for the region will be rolled out in the next three weeks.

Last week, the Vice-President made a similar announcement on the Essequibo Coast. There, he told hundreds of residents including farmers and housewives, that 800 jobs will be created in the region to help ease the squeeze resulting from the high cost of living.

The Vice-President during last week had also explained that the temporary jobs being allotted are part of a scheme that will see some 8,000 such jobs being awarded to residents countrywide.

He told the gathering in the Watooka Guest House on Sunday that the government understands their struggles and is doing all it can to bring relief to them, while noting that the pandemic has taken a toll on nations the world over.

The pandemic has caused a significant slowdown in the global supply chain as major factories shuttered or shrank operations. This has resulted in a global shortfall in production, which has created a demand glut and along with market uncertainty, has been fuelling the increases in prices.

And amid the pandemic, Russia has invaded Ukraine over alleged national security issues, resulting in a direct increase in the prices for wheat, as production in both countries, which are major producers of the commodity, has been affected.

Aside from the 800 jobs, Mr Jagdeo also announced that some 200 to 250 grants will be allocated to small businesses in Region 10 for persons interested in setting up a business or expanding their operations.

The PPP/C in its 2020 elections manifesto had promised to create some 50,000 jobs in their first term in office and the Vice-President reiterated to the residents of Region 10 that job creation remains a major focus of his party.

FIXING DEFICIT
He observed that a vast majority of investors have been flocking to Regions Three and Four and pointed out that in a bid to address the deficit in the other regions, the government will be offering incentives to investors to establish operations in the outlying regions.

Mr Jagdeo assured the residents of Region 10 that the government is prepared to fund the shell of buildings, the cost for training and subsidise the cost for bandwidth once these operations will provide jobs for scores or hundreds of residents in the region.

He urged the residents to also make full use of the GOAL scholarship programme, emphasising that the government needs skilled professionals to take the country forward and residents of the region must play their part in the development process.

Through the GOAL scholarship programme, the government will award some 20,000 scholarships to Guyanese to pursue higher education. The areas of studies identified by the government are areas in which the country will need expertise to accelerate its transformation.

So far, more than 4,000 scholarships have been awarded and the government, according to Mr Jagdeo, is looking to exceed this number this year. He also said that the government is willing to increase the 20,000 scholarships it has allotted in its first five years in office, if required.

Residents of Region 10, he said, will benefit fully from the programme. A remedial three-month programme is offered to applicants who do not meet the entry requirements to get them up to a level of university standards.

The Vice-President also told the residents that his government is about serious development, not about race, which remains the main rhetoric of the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) Coalition. The Coalition, he said, only loves the people of Region 10 in abstract and hardly does things to improve their lives and well-being.

The government is building a housing scheme in Linden with 1,000 homes in addition to building new and upgrading water treatment and supply systems; improving the road network, improving electricity and is continuously improving education and health care in the region, Mr Jagdeo said.

Region 10, he said, will be treated fairly whether or not the people there had voted for the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C).