La Parfaite Harmonie entrepreneurs receive $2.5M

Fourteen small business owners from La Parfaite Harmonie, Region Three, who suffered severe income disruptions due to infrastructure projects in their community, have received a total of $2.5 million in compensation under the Livelihood Restoration Plan.

This initiative, part of the Adequate Housing and Urban Accessibility Programme (AHUAP), aims to support Project Affected Persons (PAPs).

The cheques were presented by Minister of Housing and Water, Collin Croal along with Minister within the Ministry of Housing and Water, Susan Rodrigues at the ministry’s head office Friday last.

In his address, Minister Croal highlighted that AHUAP encompasses more than just constructing and delivering core homes. It focuses on community development through infrastructural enhancements across the West Bank Demerara area.

“On this project alone, we would have expended about $3 billion on infrastructural works on street networks, drainage works, etcetera,” he disclosed.

Additionally, Minister Rodrigues expressed satisfaction with this aspect of the programme, underscoring the importance of compensating business owners for lost incomes.

“It’s a very important programme; very comprehensive in a way where we are seeing it even today when we go into communities to do infrastructure works and whatever inconveniences resulting from that infrastructure work, we try to compensate those who have been affected,” she explained.

The minister said the beneficiaries will also undergo training facilitated by the Small Business Bureau (SBB) and the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA).

“There is so much that you will learn from the different training [session] in financial management, business management, and taxation. The knowledge that you will receive from that will be much more valuable than the cheques,” she added.

Another component of AHUAP is the Core Homes Support initiative, continuing to uplift the livelihoods of vulnerable families in Regions Three and Four.

The handing-over ceremony was also attended by the Chief Executive Officer of the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CHPA), Sherwyn Greaves, and the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Bishram Kuppen, among others.