-Senior Finance Minister tells Belvedere residents, showcases real gains made for Guyanese
SENIOR Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance and the Public Service, Dr. Ashni Singh, during an address to residents at a community meeting in Belvedere on Thursday afternoon, outlined the government’s tangible delivery on promises made to the people of Guyana.

He emphasised the administration’s unwavering commitment to supporting families, expanding education, and creating career-ready training opportunities for young people.

“They claim that they love people,” Dr. Singh said, referencing past leadership. However, he then pointed to the government’s ‘Because We Care’ cash grant. He noted that not only did the PPP/C government return the grant to the people, but it was also increased during the course of the administration’s term.

He added that the government had gone beyond that promise of $50, 000.

“Today, we are giving parents a cash grant of $55,000. If you have two children at school, you are guaranteed a grant of $110,000 for those two children… Not like a promise where you have to hope for the best, you are getting right now.”

Dr. Singh went on to announce that the government is working to introduce a transportation support initiative in the upcoming school term to ease the burden on families.

He highlighted further investments in the education sector . “We have put back textbooks into the school. We have introduced and expanded the school feeding programme because we want every single child to be able to complete nursery, primary, and secondary education.”

He declared emphatically, “In Irfaan Ali’s Guyana, every single child must be able to complete their secondary education.”

While the state provides the infrastructure and resources, the minister stressed the importance of parental involvement.

“We can build the school, we can employ the teachers, we can buy the textbooks, but that part you have to help us. I’m begging you please make sure that your children take advantage of the opportunities.”

In one of the most notable comments of the evening, Dr. Singh reiterated that the University of Guyana is now tuition-free

“We have made the University of Guyana completely free. That is not something we are promising and we might or might not deliver. We have delivered it. It is free right now.”
He added that students can now pursue any diploma or a programme of their choice without cost. “If your children come out of school, once they come out of school, whatever subject they want to start, they can study it and get a diploma for free.”
The minister acknowledged that not every young person is seeking a traditional university degree. “Some may say I want a skill… I want to go to Port Mourant Training School, or I want to go to TI in New Amsterdam, or I want to become a heavy equipment operator.”

He pointed to the countrywide shortage of skilled operators and cited examples from the private sector. “Tony (businessman) is here. He can tell you how many pieces of equipment he has parked up …[He] can’t deploy them because he can’t get operators. It’s not true, Tony? Kevin Abdullah can tell you he cannot find operators… Heavy equipment operators today are earning more than university graduates.”

To meet this demand, the government has launched free heavy equipment operator training across the country. “Last year, I did three training programmes, one in New Amsterdam, one right here at the Hampshire Community Centre, and one in Upper Corentyne at the technical institute. In total, we trained about 300 heavy equipment operators, and we held a job fair. As soon as they graduated, there were people ready to recruit them.”

He emphasised, “There’s no reason why any young person should be saying, ‘I’m looking for a job and I cannot get one,’ because we are providing this training for free.”

The government is also preparing the youth for lucrative opportunities in the oil and gas sector. “We have said we want our young people to be able to get qualifications to enter the oil and gas industry. And to achieve this, we have established the Guyana Technical Training College in Port Mourant…a super training school. It’s a brand-new oil and gas institute that we have built right here in Port Mourant to train people for the oil and gas sector.”

He added that two batches of students, a few of whom came from Region Six, and others drawn from elsewhere in Guyana will be walking straight into a well-paying oil sector job.

The community meeting in Belvedere served not only as a reaffirmation of promises kept but as a direct call to action for parents, youth, and the wider public to make use of the unprecedented resources and support now available across Guyana.

Meanwhile, Majid Khan Mohamed, of Toopoo, Corentyne, one of the PPP/C regional candidates, made an empathic call for residents to vote solidly for the PPP/C come September, 1.

Khan said that as a young boy growing up he faced a lot of hardships under the PNC administration; however, he has been lucky enough to work under an Irfaan Ali-led administration where he has seen massive development in every single street in his community.

He reminded residents of the hardships as he made a plea for them to ensure they turn out in their numbers on election day and return the PPP/C to a second term in office.