She arrived in the village last Tuesday, collected the money on Wednesday and returned to the city $180,000 richer, leaving the Deep South Rupununi community of Karaudarnau in an uproar.

“She just came to collect and she done gone back already,” a villager told Stabroek News via telephone from the remote Amerindian village yesterday. The resident explained that a young woman from the village who has been living on the Coast for a number of years, returned last week to collect money after she was mysteriously placed on the list of Community Service Officers (CSO) from the village. Residents believe that she was placed there due to her family’s affiliation with the ruling PPP.

The young woman has not lived in the village for a number of years and the village chief Valare Anderson and councillors do not know how she was placed in the programme. The CSOs are paid directly from the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs (MOAA) though since their last payment, the funds are now being channelled through the Regional Democratic Council.

“We want to know why she getting this money,” the villager said, adding that the young woman has done no work in the community and rarely visits. “It’s not right for her to get this thing. She is not a resident as far as we are concerned…she just came to collect.”

Stabroek News was told that Anderson attempted to question why the young woman was getting paid and attempted to stop the payment. The acting District Development Officer (DDO) in Aishalton also attempted to query the matter but got nowhere.

“He said he can’t do nothing but it came from the top for he to release the money,” the resident related.

 Got the most

CSOs are paid $30 000 per month under the government’s Hinterland Youth Apprenticeship and Entrepreneurial Programme. The money collected by the young woman would have been for six months of “work” during a period of time that she was not in the community. The resident said that they were surprised when they saw the young woman’s name on the list with the sum of $180 000 next to it. “She got the most,” the resident said.

The resident related that Anderson said that he did not know on whose recommendation the young woman was placed in the programme. Usually, the toshao recommends who should be on the programme and Anderson, after seeing the young woman’s name on the list, expressed concern. “He didn’t want her to get pay,” the resident said.

Stabroek News was told that after Anderson flagged the matter and told the official that the young woman does not reside in the community, the DDO also placed a footnote next to the young woman’s name though orders “from the top” instructed that he must pay her.

Another resident said that persons are concerned and plans to raise the matter at the next public meeting. “They paying a person who is not a resident here…she is not living here for the past few years,” she said. The resident explained that previously when the CSOs were paid through the MOAA, the council did not know who was getting paid and there was no accountability. “They used to get pay before but the village council was not aware of who is getting paid,” the villager said. “This is the first payment they getting through the Region.”

The resident said that the new system apparently was what drew the attention of the toshao who expressed concern. “He deh try to stop it in a way but they had to pay she eventually because they were ordered to do so,” she said. She expressed concern at the action. “They should go through the village council, if the village council say she is not a resident, they should see with the council,” the woman said. She added that as far as she knows, the young woman has not contributed anything to the village.

Concerns have been raised before about the project. In last year’s national budget, the opposition voted down funding that was slated for the programme due to concerns about potential misuse by the administration for electioneering and about the effectiveness of the projects to be funded.

A Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) report done last year for the Norwegian government had also commented on the issue. “Concerns have also been raised about the way in which the Amerindian Development Fund has been used to create an obligation on Amerindian communities, in order to encourage future political support, and also the way Community Support Officers (CSOs), who report to the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs, are being posted/imposed upon participating Amerindian communities,” NORAD said while noting that the funds for the CSOs may have a Norwegian source.

According to the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs, the Hinterland Youth Entrepreneurship and Apprenticeship Programme aims to support Hinterland/Amerindian youths in the various villages and communities through   apprenticeship attachments that will allow for capacity building, thus, strengthening individual interests and entrepreneurial aptitudes.

The project profile on the Ministry’s website said that the apprentices will be engaged as CSOs and they will be trained in developmental work and will be attached to various sectors in their respective villages/communities.

The objectives of the programme are to create employment opportunities and generate income for young people in Hinterland Amerindian villages; to build capacity of young individuals in the hinterlands through skills- based training in various competencies relevant to community and enterprise development; and to build competencies in decision-making and leadership geared towards young people’s effective participation in self and community development.

According to the Ministry, at most 10 young persons from a village are chosen to be included in the programme through recommendation by the Village Council based on predetermined criteria that include among others, interests and basic aptitudes. The ministry would make the final selection from the nominees based on village population, opportunities of employment in the village/community, need for apprenticeship and basic qualifications of applicants.