Roughly 2,000 persons have been relieved of their positions as Community Support Officers (CSOs) in Amerindian communities, according to Minister of Indigenous People’s Affairs Sydney Allicock, who says the initiative has not achieved its stated objectives and in many cases those recruited were used to do political party work.
The PPP earlier this week complained that many Amerindian youths were now affected as they no longer received the $30,000 monthly stipend that they were entitled to under the Youth Apprenticeship and Entrepreneurial Pro-gramme (YEAP), which was initiated by the PPP/C government.
But Allicock said the number pales in comparison to the over 60,000 Amerindians who are in dire need of help. “That is 2,000 people; that is only a fraction. You have 68,000 more indigenous people out there who also need help, so we have to look at more education so that eventually everybody would be earning from monies that we have available now. We should invest it in a more strategic way,” he told Stabroek News on Thursday.
The programme was administered by the then Ministry of Amerindian Affairs and Allicock said former Permanent Secretary Nigel Dharamlall had indicated that payments were available up to April for the CSOs. He added that the ministry had discussions with the affected persons and the donor agencies and will now work to restructure the programme.
On Wednesday, Minister of State Joseph Harmon was questioned about the issue and had recalled that in the Tenth Parliament the then opposition parties [APNU and AFC] had raised the issue of the CSOs being paid to do political work for the PPP/C.
“In fact, in some of our outreaches in the hinterland regions, we encountered that… kind of work which the CSOs were doing,” Harmon said.
If they were primarily engaged in political work, then they ought not to be paid by the state for that, he further said, before adding that he can see “every justification” for the action which was taken.
According to Allicock, it was indicated that the programme was intended to train young people in skills but to date there is nothing to show. “After so many years, there is not one person with a certificate who could say well they are trained in computer repairs or mechanics…,” he said. “$60 million, every month, is a healthy sum. It is $720 million per year and our findings so far is that the goods were not delivered,” he added.
Allicock said to continue to spend the money without results does not make sense.
After a full review, he said, the government would look at the areas that are in dire need of assistance and ensure more leadership training, focusing on areas of accountability and academic and economic development.
“Because if you don’t have the academic strength in communities, then the village councils would continue to be weak, wouldn’t be able to have accountability as is happening now,” he explained.
‘Reorganise’
Audits have been done in 18 communities and Allicock said the preliminary findings are not very encouraging, “which means we have to address those issues by training people because although we were told there was capacity building, the evidence is really not there in all the communities.” He said those living in the communities have indicated that while they knew monies were sent to their communities, they were at a loss as to how they were being spent since they were not part of the discussions and the process.
“We need to reorganise and re-plan and continue to have discussions with communities and the persons who had that opportunity [of being CSOs] and for us to do this we need to have the new councils in place, which would not be too long from now,” Allicock said.
“If you go into the communities, you would question yourself: ‘What is it these young people are doing?’ Some communities, yes, they took control but the whole thing is that the CSOs, instead of supporting, took over the village councils and became politically-active,” he pointed out.
For some time, the YEAP has faced intense scrutiny due to concerns over the activities of CSOs.
Last year, while in opposition APNU and AFC voted against the proposed $1.1B Amerindian Development Fund due to concerns about its potential misuse by the administration for electioneering and about the effectiveness of the projects to be funded. The funding included a total of $796M earmarked for the continuation of the Youth Entrepreneurship and Apprenticeship Programme and funds paid to CSOs. At the time, APNU said it is known that CSOs were under the control of the ministry and not the communities to which they belong.
Also last year, the Guyana Elections Com-mission disclosed that it had received reports from Region One that CSOs were impersonating its employees during home visits. Its investigations revealed that CSOs in Mabaruma and Port Kaituma, who had in their possession a copy of a letter purportedly signed by the then Regional Executive Officer (REO) of the region Nigel Fisher authorising their work. Fisher later denied he signed such a letter.
Residents of Karaudarnau, in the Deep South Rupununi, last year had complained about a young woman who had not lived in the community for years but had travelled to the community and collected some $180,000 representing several months of work as a CSO, when she had not done one day of work in the community. The residents had said even though they objected, the payment was authorised from Georgetown.
And a Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) report done last year for the Norwegian government had also commented on the activities of CSOs. “Concerns have also been raised about the way in which the Amerindian Development Fund has been used to create an obligation on Amerindian communities, in order to encourage future political support, and also the way Community Support Officers (CSOs), who report to the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs, are being posted/imposed upon participating Ameri-ndian communities,” NORAD said, while noting that the funds for the CSOs may have a Norwegian source. The then Ministry of Amerindian Affairs had said that the Youth Entrepreneurship and Apprenticeship Pro-gramme aims to support Hinterland/ Amerin-dian youths in the various villages and communities through apprenticeship attachments that will allow for capacity building, thus, strengthening individual interests and entrepreneurial aptitudes.
Former Amerindian Affairs Minister Pauline Sukhai had told the National Assembly that it was through a meeting with National Toshaos Council in 2013 that the programme was devised and while $500 million was given to run it, it was not enough for all the plans her ministry had listed under the programme.
