Cabinet has given its no-objection to expenditure of $168.3m for facilitators under the Hinterland Employment Youth Service (HEYS).
According to information released by the Ministry of the Presidency yesterday, the sums awarded will enable the payment of monthly stipends of $65,000 per month for the period May to December 2016. This would mean that around 287 facilitators are being hired for the programme.
The highest allocation was to Region One at $48.6m followed by Region Nine at $46.8M. The other allocations are as follows: Region Two at $16.8m, Region Three at $1.3m, Region Four at $1.8m, Region Five at $1.8m, Region Six at $3.6m, Region Seven at $20.9m, Region Eight at $17.2m and Region 10 at $9.1m.
Launched last October in the Region Eight community of Paramakatoi, HEYS replaced the controversial Youth Entrepreneurial and Apprenticeship Programme which was said to have been used by the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) as a political tool in the hinterland. The PPP/C has denied this and accused the administration of firing hundreds of young Amerindians.
