Amerindian village leaders benefitting from leadership training

Amerindian village leaders from the coastal regions are benefiting from a two-day leadership training session organised by the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs’ Department of Governance.

The training, which began on Tuesday at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre in Liliendaal, is being held under the theme ‘Empowering village council for improve governance.’

The participants include toshaos, Community District Council (CDC) chairs, secretaries, and treasurers, are being trained in key areas such as leadership management, administration, project planning, and financial accountability.

This comprehensive training aims to enhance the leaders’ capabilities, promote teamwork, and foster conflict resolution skills, among other essential competencies.

In his feature address at the opening ceremony, Senior Minister within the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance and Public Service, Dr Ashni Singh urged the leaders to ensure their villages advance socioeconomically with the significant investments made by the government.

He emphasised that this progress depends on having strong, capable local leadership.

“You have a government that ensures that every single Amerindian village is able to benefit from economic and social development; and in particular is able to develop a sustainable, competitive, and prosperous village economy.

“But we can only do that with strong local leadership which is you, so you have to have the right skills,” the minister underscored.

Minister Singh encouraged the leaders to adopt an inclusive philosophy similar to the ‘One Guyana’ initiative conceptualised by the PPP/C government, which embodies unity and growth.

Meanwhile, Minister of Amerindian Affairs Pauline Sukhai urged the leaders to return to their communities, share the knowledge gained, and apply the skills developed in the training.

This, she noted, would enable village leaders to effectively manage community issues and alleviate some of the ministry’s workload.

“The leadership programme is very important because it helps to address governance issues. Governance issues have taken a bulk of our expenditure because we have to go to various villages to examine what is happening when there are complaints or when concerns are raised or when there is a petition,” Minister Sukhai said.

She also reminded leaders to operate in alignment with the Amerindian Act, which serves as a guide throughout the training.

Each year, the government allocates funds for training incoming toshaos and village council members.

This leadership programme will also extend to other hinterland regions in the coming weeks.