Vice President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo on Tuesday told Toshaos gathered at the annual National Toshaos Council (NTC) conference that 100 Indigenous communities will get $1 million each this year to upgrade their community grounds.
And next year, Jagdeo said another 100 communities would be allocated another $100 million to execute the same works.
“We can do that before you even leave here because we got the supplementary (budgetary allocation),” Jagdeo said at the conference being held this week at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre at Liliendaal, Georgetown.
The conference will conclude on Friday. By that time, the 100 communities slated to receive the $1 million sum each should already be identified.
Beyond this, Jagdeo made several other promises to resolve issues or support community advancement projects.
And he pointed out that the government is keen on supporting Indigenous people’s development.
An example of this, he said, lies in the education sector. The Vice President noted that the government is constructing 10 new schools. Seven of those schools will be constructed in hinterland regions, primarily occupied by the country’s Indigenous people.
As part of the conference, Toshaos are raising issues directly with members of the government. Jagdeo promised them that any issues will be rectified quickly.
A day before, President Dr. Irfaan Ali tasked the permanent secretaries attached to each government ministry with resolving any outstanding issues the leaders may raise during the conference.
