–Vice-President Jagdeo ‘talks up’ big plans for Region Six

CLOSE to $2B is being invested in Region Six through the creation of some 4,000 part-time jobs for residents there, as the government continues to implement measures to cushion the increase in cost of living occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Friday, hundreds of residents turned out at the Liverpool Tarmac, on the Corentyne, and the Port Mourant Community Centre to sign one-year contracts that will see them being placed at government offices, departments and agencies.
Vice-President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, who addressed the gathering at both locations, made it clear that the jobs are not giving away of “free money” but getting people to serve their communities. Those employed, he said, will be monitored to ensure delivery of work.
The Vice-President had previously explained that the jobs are part-time and not temporary, as claimed by some APNU+AFC elements, pointing out that on expiration, the one-year contracts can be extended, and the extension could go on for an indefinite period.

Persons employed earn $40,000 per month for 10 days’ work, and the government will create some 10,000 such jobs across the country.
Already, 2,000 part-time jobs have been allocated in Region Two; 2,000 in Region Three; more than 1,000 will be allotted in Region Five and 1,000 in Region 10.
Dr. Jagdeo urged the recruits, many of whom are young people, to sign up for the GOAL scholarship initiative if they have not done so already, and to see their job as a stepping stone for bigger things in life.
He noted that the part-time jobs are necessary, as they will support income at the household level, but aside from this, it will help to address a situation the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) encountered on assuming office in August 2020.
Poor policies by the former APNU+AFC Administration, Dr. Jagdeo said, had resulted in contraction of several productive sectors, causing the loss of some 35,000 jobs. Another 35,000 jobs were lost when the then APNU+AFC Government shutdown the country at the advent of COVID-19.
In tackling this situation, the PPP/C Government employed a dual strategy: It reopened the economy, and placed emphasis on containing the virus through vaccination, social distancing, and the washing of hands.
Dr. Jagdeo told the residents of Region Six that through prudent management of COVID-19 and the economy, Guyana has emerged from the pandemic with a lower death rate compared to many developed countries, and an economy that is among the best, in terms of performance, in this part of the world.

ON TRACK
Also, since the PPP/C assumed office, Guyana has seen an influx of investors, particularly in Regions Three and Four. Their investments have created thousands of jobs, and along with the part-time jobs and other large-scale government projects in the making, these will put the PPP/C on track to achieving its 2020 Manifesto promise to create some 50,000 jobs by 2025.
At both Liverpool and Port Mourant, the Vice-President told the gathering that his government has been hard at work since assuming office less than two years ago to deliver on the promises it made to the people of Guyana.

INTERVENTIONS
The government has restored the children’s cash grant that was stopped by the former APNU+AFC Government, and increased the sum from $10,000 to $25,000. This grant has since been extended to learners in private school, and there is a promise to further increase it to $50,000 by 2025.
The children’s school uniform vouchers have also been increased from $2,500 to $5,000; old age pension has been increased by 40 per cent; some 20,000 scholarships have been made available to Guyanese, and this number could increase to 50,000; the end-of-year bonus for the Joint Services has been restored; VAT has been removed on water, electricity, machinery, agriculture inputs, among others; unjust D&I charges have been resolved and concessions have been granted to miners to make their operations more profitable; corporate tax on health care and education has been removed; more than 11,000 house lots have been distributed thus far and the government is now helping persons with private lands, who do not have the capital, to build their homes.
Dr. Jagdeo also said that education at the University of Guyana will be made free before 2025; 1,000 homes will be built in Linden and electricity cost is expected to be reduced by 50 per cent by 2025 with the coming on stream of the Wales gas-to-shore project and other major energy projects.
In Region Six, he said thousands of acres of lands are being opened up for development and agriculture that will create thousands of jobs in the region and a national stadium will be built at Palmyra that will transform the community into a major commercial hub with modern hotels and shopping centres.
A new hospital will be built in the region, other health care facilities will be upgraded and technical training of persons for the oil and gas sector, hospitality sector and nursing will also be done in Region Six, Port Mourant to be specific, the Vice-President said. This is in addition to efforts by the government to shift some of the oil and gas activities to Berbice.