Rewa’s village store commissioned; $4.5M cheque handed over to Village Council

Rewa, a remote Amerindian village located in the North Rupununi, Region Nine will benefit from increased income as Minister of Amerindian Affairs, Pauline Sukhai commissioned the village’s store on Tuesday.

The store was constructed by villagers and was funded through the ministry’s $10 million Economic Investment Fund/Covid-19 Relief Fund that was provided to villages in 2021.

In her address, Minister Sukhai congratulated the village on its accomplishment while she reminded of the government’s mandate to provide resources to Amerindian villages in order to bridge the development gap.

She noted that Rewa and other villages have been benefitting from significant investments through Presidential Grants, Community Development Projects and now funds earned from the sale of Guyana’s carbon credits.

“We need to bring the hinterland closer to what exists elsewhere and so, while it may look as though more attention … is being poured into the hinterland, it is not generally because we want to short change other citizens in the country, but for too long, the hinterland which includes the majority of Indigenous communities have not been able to catch up,” she highlighted.

Meanwhile, Rewa’s Toshao, Dickey Alvin during an interview with the Department of Public Information (DPI) explained that $2 million from the Covid-19 grant was used to construct the building and another $2 million to stock the store.

Speaking on the benefit, he said, “Once we have the profit we made from the store, it will go towards the students who are going to secondary … we will be able to help them and others.”

Additionally, a cheque valued over $4 million was handed over to the village council, as part of the $3 billion supplementary fund provided by the government in 2022, following the National Toshaos Council (NTC) Conference. The funds will be used to commence the first phase of construction of a multi-purpose facility in the village.

Minister Sukhai also delivered a brush cutter and sewing machines to the village, which will be utilised by Community Service Officers (CSOs) and the sewing centre, which is generating income for women within the village.

She also engaged villagers of Apoteri and apprised them of the developments that are taking place across the country. Youths were also encouraged to take advantage of available training opportunities through the Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL) scholarship programme and in the health sector.

The minister also handed over a $1.5 million Presidential Grant cheque to the Apoteri Village Council, as well as a brush cutter and sewing machines.