Over 1,500 benefitted from part-time job programme: President Ali

President Irfaan Ali has revealed that since 2020, 1,573 persons, mostly single mothers, have benefitted from the part-time job programme.

Monday, 8th January 2024

President Irfaan Ali at Sod turning exercise

PC: Facebook

Guyana: President Irfaan Ali has revealed that since the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) took office in 2020, 1,573 persons, including mostly single mothers, have benefitted from the part-time job programme. The programme was introduced to provide employment opportunities for unskilled persons. A few days ago, the President made this disclosure while speaking at the sod-turning exercise for the transformative US$35 million Mackenzie/Wismar Bridge. As per President Irfaan Ali, through the part-time job programme, one person from a household is provided with employment at nearby public offices for ten days each month and earns up to $40,000 monthly. The programme was expanded through a $10 billion allocation in the 2023 budget to benefit rural and hinterland communities. Further, he sheds light on the policies of the former APNU+AFC government. President Ali shared that the party had removed the $10,000 cash grant for children in the school system, thereby taking away more than $100 million from the children in Region 10. “They took away $100 million from the children in Linden. That is what they did. In the three years since we came back, we gave back the children the grant, and we gave them three and a half times more,” he said. Notably, the People's Progressive Party had promised to restore the 'Because We Care cash' grant for school children and to increase it to $50,000 per child before 2025. The grant is currently at $40,000 per child and is expected to be increased this year. Further, he said that between 2015 and 2020, under the APNU+AFC, total investments in education in the region were $226 million, compared to the $2 billion invested by the PPP over the last three years. In agriculture, he said that the APNU+AFC invested $450 million between 2015 and 2020, while the PPP has invested more than $3 billion in the last three years alone in the region. Looking at the broader investment in the region, the President said that between 2015 and 2020, total investment in region 10 was $1.7 billion. However, he disclosed that the regional investment under the capital programme was $2.5 billion in the last three years under the PPP government.