AS Government and the opposition recommence meetings on the nation’s 2013 National Budget, President Donald Ramotar has given a prelude into some priority areas that government will advance which he said are in keeping with the goal of improving the quality of life for every Guyanese. These include a labour market clearing house and launching of a revised central recruitment and manpower agency that will actively reach out to job-seekers and employers with components for matching placement services.
To satisfy the demand for employable skills, President Ramotar said support will be given to the training and apprenticeship programme of the Board of Industrial Training (BIT) with the goal of improving efficiency in the skilled and unskilled labour market.
Skills training at the level of the Ministry of Culture Youth and Sport’s flagship, the Youth Entrepreneurial Skills Training (YEST) programme, will be strengthened and a programme implemented to create employment for Amerindian youths through apprenticeship and the promotion of entrepreneurial skills.
With an online degree programme at the University of Guyana in the making, President Ramotar was assured that the delivery of tertiary education at the institution will be broadened and the university itself will improve its income stream.
He also spoke of simultaneous plans to increase coverage and strengthen the National Insurance Scheme’s administrative capacity and improve compliance, even as consultations are ongoing to reform the scheme based on the actuarial report.
A programme to improve efficiency in the public sector where bureaucratic delays are reduced will be introduced and supplemented with enforcement on timelines for service delivery.
Late last year, the government announced plans to build housing schemes catering to young professionals, with three bedroom houses valued at $8.5M.
The Ministry of Housing will be partnering with the private sector on the initiative that will include access to financing and the development of extension services with construction and advisory support.
The Diaspora Initiative that President Ramotar launched last year in New York, that seeks to identify expertise from the Guyanese diaspora through a database will be among the 2013 priorities.
In the area of agriculture, attention will be given to a Farmer’ Fertilizer and Planting Material Facility that will seek to boost food production and strengthen food production. Efforts will also be made to revamp the sugar industry transformation plan, focusing on mechanisation and other measures to reduce production cost.
The agenda to reform the tax regime, renewable energy at the level of industries businesses and the households, and the development of sports facilities and infrastructure will also be prioritised. (GINA)