Taushida gets ATV -another promise fulfilled by Government

Georgetown, GINA, June 25, 2011

President Bharrat Jagdeo’s promise to Taushida’s toshao Moses Isaacs in April, was fulfilled during a visit by Minister of Amerindian Affairs Pauline Sukhai on June 23 while in region Nine.


The Minister handed over the keys to an All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) to reduce transportation difficulties faced by residents of the Region Nine village.

She also expressed the hope that the villagers will utilize the machine for it purpose and that regular maintenance will be done.

Minister of Amerindian Affairs Pauline Sukhai, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs Collin Croal and Taushida’s Toshao, Moses Isaacs with the ATV

Another ATV was also handed over to Joseph Austin, Toshao of Rukumuto Village financed from the Ministry’s 2011 capital budget.

Both Toashoas expressed gratitude to President Jagdeo, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs Collin Croal and Minister Sukhai for affording their villages the vehicles.

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Gov’t school uniform programme - 30,000 Amerindian and hinterland children to benefit

What started out as a programme to benefit mainly rural areas, the Government’s School Uniform Assistance Programme, is now benefitting thousands of children in Amerindian and hinterland communities as the administration continues to work in closing the education gap between the coastland and the hinterland.


Students from the nursery, primary and secondary levels are now benefitting from the uniform assistance which this year will cost the People’s Progressive Party (PPP/C) Administration $300M to outfit about 200,000 children.

Minister of Amerindian Affairs Pauline Sukhai hands over school uniform materials to teacher and students of Aishalton Secondary School, Region 9

Of that sum, $63.2M has been spent on materials for children in Regions One, Seven, Eight and Nine and will benefit over 30,000 students.

Minister of Amerindian Affairs Pauline Sukhai and a team from the Ministry visited several Amerindian communities in Region Nine from June 22 to 24, to oversee the distribution of school uniform materials and to generally listen to residents’ concerns.

Minister Sukhai and Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs Collin Croal visited communities including St. Ignatius, Kumu, Moco Moco and Nappi where the uniform materials were handed over to head teachers and in some cases the villages’ respective toshaos.

Minister Sukhai in her address to hundreds of residents and students gathered at the various schools for the launch of the programme informed them that development is a long process, but in Guyana it has been happening consistently as Government continues to invest in all sectors, thus creating a better country for its people.

Minister of Amerindian Affairs Pauline Sukhai hands over school uniform materials to Raoul Sutherland, Head Master of Achawib Primary School. Looking on are Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Amerindian Affairs Collin Croal and council members of Achawib village, Region 9

“Over the years more and more Amerindians are being trained in various fields such as education, agriculture and health, and as a Government, investment in our human resources has always been paramount in our priorities,” Minister Sukhai said.

These investments, Minister Sukhai said start with the nation’s children, who are the future of this country.

The extension of the school feeding programme, school uniform programme, annual scholarship opportunities and subsidies for learning material and examination fees are just some of government’s intervention at affording hinterland children the opportunities of an education, despite their geological locations.

“There should be no excuse for children to stay at home or parents to make excuse that their children don’t have a uniform or cannot afford a snack, particularly at the nursery and primary levels,” Minister Sukhai said.

In the hinterland and Amerindian areas, at the nursery level 3585 children will benefit 19993 at the primary level and 6502 at the secondary level.

Minister of Amerindian Affairs Pauline Sukhai and Students of Kumu Nursery School, Region 9

Minister Sukhai also noted that $19.5 M from the total sum was spent on procuring materials for Region Nine which will benefit 38 nursery, 48 primary and 5 secondary schools.

Contracts for the sewing of uniforms she noted will be awarded to residents of the respective villages at a cost of $600 each.

“When you look at the millions of dollars invested for procurement of materials, transportation and sewing of the uniform …we expect that our children give back to our country, the commitment to do even better every year at their studies,” Minister Sukhai said.

Today, hinterland communities across Guyana can boast of universal access to nursery and primary education. Government continues to invest in the construction of more secondary schools as well in Regions 1, 7, 8 and 9 to improve in the secondary aspect. These are being built with dormitory facilities to meet the needs of the increasing number of students who are now accessing secondary education including at Sand Creek, St. Ignatius, Annai, Aishalton, Waramadong, Port Kaituma, Mabaruma and Paramakatoi.

Minister of Amerindian Affairs Pauline Sukhai hands over school uniform material to Toshao of Parikwarinau John Daniels. In photo also are Toshaos and CDOs of other communities in Region Nine

This year, $24.3 B has been allocated towards the continued successful implementation of the National Education Strategic Plan in 2011. Training, infrastructural development, and the school feeding and uniform assistance programmes are among the major aspects.

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30,000 hinterland students to benefit from Government’s school uniform assistance programme

Georgetown, GINA, June 22, 2011

Government’s school uniform distribution begins tomorrow in St. Ignatius, Region Nine where Minister of Amerindian Affairs Pauline Sukhai and Permanent Secretary Collin Croal along with a team from the Ministry are currently visiting several communities in that Region to distribute uniform materials.


Moco Moco, Nappi and Kumu are among those communities slated to receive their supplies tomorrow.

Raw materials will also be distributed to communities in Regions One, Seven, Eight and Ten. Contracts for the sewing of uniforms will be awarded to residents of the respective villages.Croal said that over 9000 children will benefit from uniform assistance in Region 9.

This, he said, is part of Government’s efforts to ensure that every child, despite geographical location, is afforded the opportunity to an education.

Minister of Amerindian Affairs Pauline Sukhai hands over school uniform material to Toshao of Parikwarinau John Daniels. In photo also are Toshaos and CDOs of other communities in Region Nine.

Speaking to Toshaos and village council members, Minister Sukhai cited Government’s school feeding programme which was extended to hinterland schools and the annual hinterland scholarship programme which are all complementary programmes aimed at providing equal opportunities to education for all hinterland children.

“With an education the population can drive itself out of poverty,” Minister Sukhai stated.

She alluded to Government’s investment in education over the years which now see indigenous people being involved in decision making at all levels in Guyana.
Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr. Roger Luncheon, during a post-Cabinet briefing today said that the Education Ministry has published rules, regulations and guidelines that would govern the uniform distribution exercise for the 2011/2012 school year.

The uniform voucher distribution exercise which will be conducted from June 22 to July 8 at all schools in other areas will be followed by a second round from July 11 to 22, if the need arises.

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Immediate interventions taken to ensure Region Nine farmers suffer minimal losses

Georgetown, GINA, June 14, 2011

Government is ensuring that aid is extended to all residents in communities across Region Nine who were affected by severe flooding which resulted from heavy rainfall over the past weeks.

The Ministry of Amerindian Affairs Ministry has been assisting in advancing this national assistance programme and from June 11-13, Minister of Amerindian Affairs Pauline Sukhai, Permanent Secretary Collin Croal and officers from the Ministry conducted community outreaches to Aishalton, Sand Creek and Karasabai to gather detailed information with regards to the impact of the flooding on residents and their livelihoods.

Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs Collin Croal speaking to Aishalton residents. Seated at head table are Minister Pauline Sukhai and Aishalton Toshao Hildebrand James.

Over 117acres of farmlands of mostly cassava crops were affected in the various communities and the Ministry of Agriculture has made interventions to assist farmers in saving their crops.

Minister Sukhai stated that necessary interventions will be taken to ensure that those affected have adequate food supplies and other immediate needs.

The Ministry of Agriculture also heightened its efforts to help farmers to reduce crop losses.

Agriculture Officer Michael Ramsammy has been visiting farms in the various communities to advise about measures that can be taken to reduce losses. He advised farmers with crops that were nearing maturity to reap immediately in order to save them.

Aishalton residents at a meeting with Minister of Amerindian Affairs Pauline Sukhai.

To aid this process the Agriculture Ministry presented a cassava mill to Aishalton famers which is being transported to the farms so that as the cassava crops are being harvested it can also be processed and stored for future use.

This initiative, Minister Sukhai said, will contribute significantly to the villages’ food security in the coming weeks.

Storage containers were also provided for the farine and cassava while tarpaulins will be provided for farm camps which were destroyed during the rains.

The cassava mill has the capacity to process hundreds of pounds of cassava within a few hours and will help farmers to save as much of their staple food as possible.

The cassava mill which was presented to Aishalton residents by the Ministry of Agriculture.

Ramsammy has also been advising farmers about possible measures to reduce future flooding of their farms.

In addition to cassava mills which will be provided to other villages, Minister Sukhai advised the village councils to inform the Ministry about the immediate needs of the various communities so that Government can extend the necessary assistance to aid their recovery from the impact of the flood.

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