In an effort to create jobs, the Ministry of Tourism is looking to establish call centres at Tuschen on the East Bank of Essequibo that would see over 300 persons being employed and at Enmore.
“The general aim is to create jobs …we are looking at 300 persons but that number can go up because the call centre goes 24 hours and with a shift system the number goes up,” an official at the Ministry told Stabroek News yesterday.
The official said that the target market group for the call centre had not yet been identified but that the ministry was negotiating with companies.
Invitations to bid for the contract to construct the building were advertised in the Guyana Chronicle.
The notice says that the project comes under the Rural Development Fund.
During this year’s budget debate, acting Minister of Tourism Irfaan Alli had said that the $1B was proposed, out of the ministry’s overall $2.2B budget, for the fund which will support enterprise development initiatives in rural areas.
He also promised that there will be quarterly reports on the progress of the $1B rural development fund and had encouraged members from regions countrywide to educate their villagers about how to access it. “This revolving fund covers all regions. Once it is approved, public ads will be made and calls for proposals to be part of this revolving fund,” he had said.
Further, the minister informed that while there will be a $700,000 loan ceiling for individuals, that figure will increase if community groups applied. The amounts were not specified but he said that it would depend on the number of persons who formed the group.
