Dr. Jagdeo declares, “The only qualification for part-time job is to be Guyanese”

On Thursday, Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo clarified that the only qualification for the government’s part-time jobs initiative is to be Guyanese.

Dr. Jagdeo was responding to negative utterances being peddled by the Opposition in relation to the programme. The Vice President disclosed that the initiative will continue for a number of years.

VP Jagdeo, who was speaking at the official launch of the initiative in Region Six, urged the beneficiaries to use the opportunity as a stepping stone to finding better jobs.

Dr. Jagdeo said the initiative, in the short-term, would benefit thousands of Guyanese. The Vice President issued an appeal for them to disregard the negative utterances by the Opposition, explaining that the economic policies of the APNU+AFC are inimical to the interests of the people, deeming those policies as “retrogressive”.

“The policy was not helpful to job creation, when taxes were introduced on electricity and water, machinery and equipment. We thought that was counterproductive and that is what affected the economy,” Dr. Jagdeo said.

The VP pointed out that under the APNU+AFC, some 35,000 jobs were lost even before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. He stressed that after the pandemic hit and the country was shut down, another 35,000 to 40,000 jobs were lost.

Dr. Jagdeo noted that his Government, had to quickly implement a strategy to deal with the job loss, as well as the rising cost of living, brought on by the pandemic and exacerbated by the Russia/Ukraine war.

The Vice President also encouraged them to take advantage of the opportunity to study and upgrade themselves, making reference to the Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL) scholarships.

“We expect all of you who are on the programme to utilise the other opportunities provided by the Government of Guyana to study, to upgrade yourself, because any person who wants to do an online scholarship from this group or anywhere in the country, the government will pay for their studies,” he told those gathered.

The former president said that close to 3,000 persons in the region are benefitting from the initiative.