Vice President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo on Tuesday officially launched the government’s part-time jobs initiative in Region Two, following the announcement back in March.
Dr. Jagdeo had initially committed to providing 800 of these jobs along the Essequibo Coast, however, this amount has been increased after the government received some 2, 500 applications.
The Vice President made this disclosure during the contract signing hosted at the Suddie Childcare Centre. Following this overwhelming interest, the government has taken an aggressive step to provide some 1,200 additional part-time jobs along the Essequibo Coast, making way for 2, 000 residents to gain employment through the massive recruitment drive.
The successful applicants signed their one-year contractual agreements on Tuesday and will begin working from June 1 to May 2023.
The employment drive caters for one person per household to be employed, with the long-term intention to hire as many persons as possible.
“Here on the Essequibo Coast, it is very difficult to get job creation because most of the investors they prefer to go to Region Three and Four, they have a large population, closer proximity to market, they can export whatever they produce,” Jagdeo explained, while addressing the prospective government workers.
He emphasised the need for them to adopt a welcoming attitude while serving the people during working hours. The administration is also looking to establish call centres that could see close to 1, 000 persons being employed.
“The government will build a factory shell for untrained people and then the investors would just operate this and this is just the beginning to generate more jobs on the Coast,” the VP added.
The job opportunities allow for the employees to work for 10 days and earn up to $40,000. The work is being offered in specific areas within government ministries including health, agriculture, education and local government.
“We expect you to work regardless of where you’re placed because people are placed in different facilities…It’s a community spirit we want to build also because many of you will be working for the government in ensuring that you see improvement in services in your community,” he pointed out.
Further, Dr. Jagdeo noted that there are also opportunities for the new employees to advance their studies in a number of areas, through the Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL) programme. (DPI)