— Vice-President guarantees jobs for 400 persons trained in technical areas

ONE thousand part-time jobs will soon be made available to residents of Region Five as government continues to put measures in place to cushion the effects of high cost of living precipitated by the slowdown of the global supply chain as a result of COVID-19.

Vice-President, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo made the announcement at separate community meetings at Novar and the Bath Primary School, as well as during an engagement with members of the Region Five business community at Berbice Bridge Office lawns, D’ Edward Village, on Wednesday.

On assuming power in August 2020 after a protracted election stand-off, Dr Jagdeo pointed out that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government was faced with a situation where about 35,000 persons lost their jobs as a result of poor policies by the former Coalition Government.

This situation was further compounded when the Coalition, which was ill-equipped to tackle the pandemic, enforced significant locked down of the country as it grapples with the pandemic, a decision that saw some 30,000 persons being laid off of their jobs.

In addition to having to deal with battered economy, very limited resources to beat back COVID-19 and a host of other inherited challenges, Dr Jagdeo told Region Six residents that the government also had to contend with a high employment rate, a problem it had made significant headway in addressing through a series of development projects, which will grow in numbers.

Also, thus far, the government has allocated 800 part-time jobs each for Regions Two and 10, and 3,000 for Region Six as part of a programme that will see some 8,000 such jobs being allocated to residents throughout Guyana. Dr Jagdeo reported that in Region Two, some 2,000 have signed up for these jobs that will be made available by government.

Under this part-time employment scheme, persons are required to work 10 days per month at a government agency, hospital or government-run institutions and will be paid $40,000 per month.

WORKING DILIGENTLY
The PPP/C, in it’s 2020 manifesto, had promised to create 50,000 jobs in its first term in office, and since its assumption of power in August 2020, Vice-President Jagdeo said the party has been working diligently to fulfil its manifesto commitments to the people, regardless whether they voted for his party or not.

He also said the Administration has been talking with the major players in the oil and gas sector and has been encouraging them to recruit persons from outside of Regions Three and Four, which have been attracting the bulk of investments over the past two years.

“We can give them a tax incentive to train people… we are setting up a major training facility at Port Mourant. If you find maybe 400 young people from this region who want to be trained in operating heavy-duty equipment like excavators, cranes, all of these things… as electricians, plumbers, welders, I can immediately get a training programme stated with 300-400 persons because we need them badly and they earn a good pay,” he said.

Dr Jagdeo also noted that a temporary training facility can be established in Region Five while the government works on getting the Port Mourant facility up and running.

GUARANTEE
“I can guarantee you that months after they are trained, they will find jobs,” he assured residents of the region.
This aside, he said that the government is also looking to co-invest in projects that will generate jobs such as call centres by investing in the shell of the building and to provide training where necessary.

He also informed residents that the government has set aside some 200 small grants of $250,000 for persons in the region who are interested in entering business or to expand their business.

Since coming to power in 2020, the government has delivered on a number of its manifesto promises. These so far include restoring the children’s education grant and increasing it to $25,000, with the aim to further increase it to $50,000 by 2025.

This grant has also been extended to children at private schools. The school uniform voucher has also increased, old-age pension has been increased by 40 per cent and is expected to double the amount paid out in 2015. The government has also removed VAT on water, electricity and data and drainage; and irrigation charges which were increased by 500 per cent by the former government have been slashed to the pre-2015 rate.

Some $250,000 in relief grants have also been given to laid-off sugar workers, as well $25,000 to the populace to cushion the impact of COVID-19. Monetary assistance was also given to all pensioners and billions of dollars have been paid to farmers affected by the massive floods last year.