By Mesha Sealey
THE 2021 Budget, with the theme ‘A Path to Recovery, Economic Dynamism and Resilience’, was presented on Friday and saw in excess of $5.45B being injected into the development of projects in Amerindian and Hinterland communities.
Delivering the budget speech at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre on Friday, Senior Minister within the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh, reiterated the Government’s intention to keep its promise of delivering better Government services to its Amerindian brothers and sisters.
He pledged the Government’s commitment to improving the lives of not only the Amerindian community, but the country as a whole.
“This PPP/C Government has charted a course, outlined in our manifesto and elaborated by His Excellency, the President that, once followed, will see us seizing those opportunities and will guide us to a destiny of which our foreparents have dreamt for generations.

The task will not be easy, but neither is it impossible. One thing is sure, the task will be made considerably easier if we have all hands on deck, embracing the spirit of oneness so eloquently elaborated by His Excellency yesterday,” the minister assured. One fundamental point addressed by the Senior Minister was that of the $2.2 billion Amerindian Land Titling project, which began under the previous PPP/C administration. The project aimed to secure lands and natural resources for Amerindians, but was unfortunately neglected under the previous A Partnership for National Unity+ Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) Coalition administration. As a result, the Government has allocated a grand sum of $630 million to expedite the granting of titles to Amerindian villages. The programme will target the titling of 68 Amerindian villages, in stark comparison to the two certificates of title the previous administration awarded the Amerindian people.

JOB CREATION
In addition to the land titling project, Singh stressed the PPP/C Government’s commitment to the creation of employment opportunities for indigenous peoples across the country in order to promote capacity development.
“Additional hardships were meted out to our hinterland communities when almost 2,000 Community Service Officers were unceremoniously fired and the stipend of $30,000 monthly, approved by the PPP/C Government, was discontinued. In keeping with our manifesto promise of delivering better Government services to our Amerindian brothers and sisters, we have, in only four months of assuming office, resuscitated the Community Service Officers programme, by re-engaging over 500 CSOs, providing them with the previously established stipend of $30,000 monthly. This administration also trained 46 CSOs in ICT skills in 2020, returning support to the development of once neglected Amerindian communities,” Singh posited.
The PPP/C administration further intends to employ 2,000 CSOs, maintaining its manifesto promise to the Amerindian people, provide $196.6 million for boats, engines and equipment to empower communities and improve their livelihood; and invest $3.85B towards development of hinterland roads, to enhance connectivity.

OPPORTUNITIES IN EDUCATION
Within the education sector of the budget lie blended methods of ensuring learning continuity for all students, including a revamped Guyana Learning Channel Trust. According to Dr Singh, the trust will benefit over 130,000 students and will implement the distribution of printed worksheets and other materials to over 41,000 students in the hinterland, riverine and disadvantaged coastal areas. This year, the Government plans to establish the Universality Fund, a feature of the new telecommunications regulatory regime through which access to modern telecommunications services can be funded for poor and vulnerable communities, including, and especially those in hinterland regions.
“The Telecommunications Act and regulations provide for contributions to this fund from operators, and we expect a minimum of $360 million to be made available to the Fund this year. A plan is being prepared that will specify feasible projects to be implemented by the private sector which will boost connectivity for businesses in unserved and underserved communities,” elaborated Dr Singh. The Government also vowed to award a total of 196 scholarships, bridging the educational disparities between the hinterland and coastal area.

WATER AND INFRASTRUCTURE
Under the Government’s hinterland water supply programme, residents of Mabaruma, Barbina and Wanina are benefitting from improved hours of service after the upgrading and expansion of the water supply system with the installation of electrical pumps, and servicing of the elevated storage tanks, according to Dr Singh. This activity has, for the first time, provided potable water to the residents of Barimanobo. Additionally, new wells were drilled and water mains and service connections installed, benefitting over 5,000 residents of One Mile, Mora, Rincon, Kumaka, Santa Rosa, Shea, Annai, Lethem, Shulinab and Chiung Mouth.

The Finance Minister further detailed that after taking stock of the existing situation in the sector, several critical challenges and missteps were detected, including high iron content, low treated-water coverage, high levels of non-revenue water, and a low proportion of the hinterland population having access to potable water.
With this, he outlined the Government’s aim to improve the water sector, which includes an increase of treated water coverage and access to potable water, reducing non-revenue water, and modernising sanitation facilities across the country.

In addition to water, a whopping total of $415 million is budgeted for the completion, upgrade and rehabilitation of a number of hinterland airstrips. While this was not discussed in depth, the minister went on to highlight the Government’s mandate in articulating a national infrastructure investment pipeline, which outlines current and future public sector investments that will create, upgrade, and rehabilitate the country’s infrastructural landscape from coastland to hinterland.

‘LIGHTENING THE LOAD’
To reduce the cost of transportation for hinterland communities and operators, the Government plans to remove VAT from ATVs for mining, forestry, agriculture and manufacturing in the hinterland. The Government also removed VAT on machinery and equipment, provided tax concessions on ATVs and reversed VAT on exports and on hinterland travel, all effective from October 1, 2020.
The Government will also be dedicating additional resources to address mental health issues, suicide prevention and care, and resuscitate psychiatric and psychological service initiatives within the hinterland areas.