— residents praise part-time jobs initiative to supplement household incomes

THE government has invested more than $5 billion in the creation of some 11,000 part-time jobs in Regions Two, Three, Five, Six and 10 as it continues to supplement incomes at the household level to cushion the rise in the cost of living caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Some 2,000 part-time jobs have been allocated in Region Two; 2,000 in Region Three; 2,000 in Region Five; 4,000 in Region Six and 1,000 in Region 10.
Under the part-time jobs programme, persons are placed at government offices, departments and agencies and earn $40,000 per month for 10 days of work.

The government has exceeded its initial target to create 10,000 such jobs across the country.
On Saturday, hundreds of residents, mostly young people, braved the inclement weather as they made their way to the drying floor at Fort Wellington and the Paradise Community Centre, Region Five, to sign their one-year contracts.
Urlesha Dorris, who was out early Saturday morning at the drying floor at Fort Wellington, said she was very happy to secure employment under the programme.
“It will be beneficial to a lot of us; I am a single mother and it will be of great benefit to me and other single mothers out there,” she told reporters.
Over at the Paradise Community Centre, Roxanne Fraser who hails from Paradise Village, was delighted to sign her contract.
“As for me, I am glad I get something to do because I am not doing anything right now and I am a single parent… I have four children going to school and it will help me out a lot,” she said.
Vice-President, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, who addressed the gathering at both locations, urged the recruits to take their work seriously, serve their community earnestly and strive to elevate themselves by registering for the GOAL scholarship initiative if they have not yet done so.

GIVE YOUR VERY BEST
“This programme is not free money, you have to work for 10 days and I hope you give your very best wherever you are placed…we want to place you closer to home and you can serve in your community as far as possible; whether you help out at a police station or a school or in a health clinic or some other government office that you will be placed,” he told the gathering at Fort Wellington. This message was repeated to the gathering at the Paradise Community Centre.
Contrary to claims by opposition elements that the jobs are temporary, Dr Jagdeo explained that this is not so, pointing out that they are part-time and on expiration the one-year contracts can be extended, and the extension could go on for an indefinite period.

The part-time jobs are necessary, he contended, and in support of his position the Vice-President said that they will support incomes 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.
As done at all his outreaches, Dr Jagdeo elaborated that poor policies by the former APNU+AFC administration had resulted in contraction of several productive sectors, causing the loss of some 35,000 jobs. Another 35,000 jobs were lost when the Coalition Government shut down the country on 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. Prudent management of COVID-19 and the economy has seen Guyana emerge from the pandemic with a lower death rate compared to many developed countries, and an economy that is unrivalled in this part of the world.

ON TRACK
Since the PPP/C Government 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 government on track to achieve its 2020 manifesto promise to create some 50,000 jobs by 2025.
The 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, said Vice-President Jagdeo.

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 from water, electricity, machinery, agricultural 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 costs are 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.