As the Government continues to explore other means of providing relief measures to citizens of the country, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo said another 5 to 6 billion dollars is likely to be expended to provide employment opportunities.
“We are going to probably spend another 5 or 6 billion dollars for employing people. So that is another 5, 6 billion dollars that will go in people pockets. Now that’s 15,000 persons, 10 to 15,000 ultimately by next year we are looking at to target,” Jagdeo told reporters at a press conference yesterday at the Office of the President.
The sum, he said is aside from the $5 billion that was set aside in the 2022 national budget to address the steep increases which were brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and global supply chain bottlenecks.
He noted that the previous allocation has not been exhausted as yet. “…The money has not been exhausted as yet. There are different groups that have been targeted but the resources has not been exhausted,” he said.
According to Jagdeo, the rising cost of living has placed a burden on citizens of Guyana as well other countries in the Caribbean. “…We are trying to supplement income at the lower level, at the household level so people can address some of these cost of living issues but it’s really, really affecting a lot of people,” he said.
“This is an ongoing thing,” Jagdeo said as he pointed to the Government’s intention to increase local production. ”…As we find items we are going to try to adjust prices downward. We are really hoping that it would have an improvement in the supply response in these countries but some of them are still locked down because of the COVID,” he said.
Since the PPP/C Government took office, it has unveiled a number of relief measures to vulnerable groups.
President Irfaan Ali recently announced a $100,000 cash grant for children with disabilities. Other groups which benefitted including fishermen, farmers and miners.
The Government also recently launched its temporary jobs initiative which is aimed at providing jobs to thousands of persons.
“We are going to keep working through this to see how we can help vulnerable groups as we go along….As we consult with different interest groups, we are trying to do stuff. So we met with the fishermen, we met with people from the hinterland, we met with the farmers, so we keep going. We are meeting with the older folks. The President met with people with disability. So as we meet with different groups, we try to extend the help through consultations,” Jagdeo yesterday said.
