97TH SITTING – TWELFTH PARLIAMENT | 2025 BUDGET - CONSIDERATION OF ESTIMATES & EXPENDITURE - DAY 1

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[Music]

we are a peaceful people struggle is

with struggle and we don't look for

trouble just ask

around but when outside faces

from foreign places talk about taking

over we a paring down we ain't giving up

no mountains we ain't giving up no tree

we ain't giving up no

river that belongs do we not one blue

saki not one rise gr not one

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grass This Land Is All I

we going to make it some we will B like

aall I

never our fathers came here and they

live and die here and we ain't moving

nowhere make no

mistake cuz we ain't giving up no

mountain we ain't giving up no

tree we ain't giving up the

riv that belongs to we not one blue

Sak not one

R not

one not

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the

and

night we may

criticize this is all we love it and we

need to keep it we have that right

so we ain't giving up no mo up we ain't

giving up

no we ain't giving up no

rev belongs to

we not one

laki not one

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boss so we ain't giving up no mountains

we ain't giving up no tree we ain't

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[Music]

[Music]

we are a peaceful people struggle is

with struggle and we don't look for

trouble just ask

around but when outside faces

from foreign places talk about taking

over we aing down we ain't giving up no

mountains we ain't giving up no tree we

ain't giving up no

river that belongs to we not one blue

saki not one rice gr not

one not a b

grass this land is all I know we going

to make it

some we will bend like a ball I never

bre our fathers came here and they live

and die here and we ain't moving nowhere

make no

mistake cuz we ain't giving up no

mountain we ain't giving up no

tree we ain't giving up the

riv that belongs to we

one blue

saki not one

R not

one not

a we love the open country of

[Music]

the we

mayti our we love it and we need to keep

it we have that right

so we ain't giving up no mo up we ain't

giving up

no we ain't giving up no

rev belongs to

we not one

laki not one

R not one

CR not a b cross so we ain't giving up

no mountains we ain't giving up no tree

we ain't giving up no River

belongs to

we not one blue

saki not one rice gr not

one not a b

[Music]

[Music]

we are a peaceful people struggle is

with struggle and we don't look for

trouble just ask

around but when outside faces

from foreign places talk about taking

over we aing down we ain't giving up no

mountains we ain't giving up no

tree we ain't giving up no

river that belongs to we not one blue

saki not one rise gra not

one not a b

grass this land is all all I know all I

know we going to make it

somehow we will bend like a ball I never

break our fathers came here and they

live and die here and we ain't moving

nowhere make no

mistake cuz we ain't giving up no

mountain we ain't giving up no

trees we ain't giv up the

riv belongs to we

not one blue

saki not one

rice not

one

not we love the open

country of

[Music]

the

[Music]

and we may

critici this is all we love it and we

need to keep it we have that right

so we ain't giving up

no we ain't giving up

no we ain't giving up no

rev belongs to

we not one

lak not one

R not one

CR not a

bitr so we ain't giving up no mountains

we ain't giving up no tree we ain't

giving up no River sh belongs to

we not one blue

saki not one rice

gr not

one not a b

[Music]

[Music]

we are a peaceful people struggle is

with struggle and we don't look for

trouble just ask

around but when outside faces

from foreign places talk about taking

over weing down we ain't giving up no

mountains we ain't giving up no tree we

ain't giving up no

river that belongs to we not one blue

saki not one R gra not

one not a b of

grass this land is all I know all I know

we going to make it

some we will bend like a ball I

never our fathers came here and they

live and die here and we ain't moving

nowhere make no

mistake cuz we ain't giving up no

mountain we ain't giving up no

tree we ain't giv up the

r belongs to we

not one blue

Sak not one

R not

[Music]

one we love the open

country of

[Music]

the we may

criticize this is our we love it and we

need to keep it we have that right so we

ain't giving up no up we ain't giving up

no up we ain't giving up no

R belongs to

we not one

lak not one

R not one

CR not a b

across so we ain't giving up no mountain

we ain't giving up no tree we ain't

giving up no River do belongs to

we not one blue

saki not one rice gr not

one not a b

[Music]

[Music]

we are a peaceful people struggle is

with struggle and we don't look for

trouble just ask

around but when outside faces

from foreign places talk about taking

over weing down we ain't giving up no

mountains we ain't giving up no tree we

ain't giving up no

river that belongs to we not one blue

saki not one R gra not

one not a b of

grass this is all I know all I know we

going to make it

some we will bend like a ball I never

bre our fathers came here and they live

and die here and we ain't moving nowhere

no

mistake cuz we ain't giving up no

mountain we ain't giving up no

tree we ain't giv up the

river that belongs to we

not one blue

saki not one

R not

[Music]

one we love the open

country of

[Music]

the

[Music]

and we

mayti this is all we love it and we need

to keep it we have that right so we

ain't giving up no mo giving up we ain't

giving up no up we ain't giving up no

R belongs to

we not one

lak not one

R not one

cries not a b

across so we ain't giving up no

mountains we ain't giving up no tree we

ain't giving up no River that belongs to

we not one blue

saki not one R gr not

one not a b

[Music]

honor members

speaker

that's are members please be

seated we will resolve ourselves into

committee to cons to continue

consideration of the

estimates check the

back okay we'll turn now to

the ministry of

labor and I invite The Honorable Mr

Speaker Al ask for we have to go

back the

house thank you

PM let me invite The Honorable prime

minister to

move the suspension of the standing

orders for us

to go beyond and continue the business

Mr Speaker I ask that we suspend the

standing orders to go beyond 8:00 p.m.

thank you PM H members I put a question

that the house proceed Beyond 8:00 p.m.

to conclude the business of today those

in favor

I we now resolve ourselves into

committee invite The Honorable minister

of Labor and his team

this is

St

and I invite you to turn to Pages 180

and

181 and I propose the question that the

sum stated for agency 38

program 381 policy development and

administration current expenditure

stands part of the

estimates The Honorable

member Mr thank you very much chair can

The Honorable Minister indicate to us as

it relates to

Staffing

6111 614 6114 4

6116 can The Honorable Minister give us

the aggregate of these

individuals

Minister

decrease okay thank you thank you um Mr

chair um is the member talking about

increase in staff and yes decrease at

61 16

6116 decrease by six that's it um 30 to

24 right yes sir

yes

611 okay

6111 um the increase uh

is new

appointments um a

technical

officer uh registry

supervisor an

accountant and Senior Personnel officer

all of these persons were

um appointed from the public

service uh

commission the other one is um

6114 I think you mentioned yes sir um

the

increase a green is

um five uh

Clark and um one

typist and one

um one office

assistant and one a Clark Tre that is

the increase and and

616

yes 6116 there um that's a

decrease

um one staff died and five um

resigned a personal assistant accountant

public relations officer and one two

drivers and one assistant

accountan thank thank you very much

sir 6321 subsidies and contribution to

local

organization and the description given

there bit we're looking at the increase

of 100 million s um are there new

programs added on to the 600 plus that

you that we already have for 2024 and

can you give us

um as to the region how many programs

will be facilitated

so the in

2020

4 we expended

577 um

million

and the sum here is

679

million and the intention is to if I go

through

this uh

training 70 million to be spent in

region 1 57 to be spent in region two uh

18 million Region 3 97 million Region 4

14.8 million Region 5 47 million in

region

6 uh 44 million in region

7 6.1 million in Region 8 45 million

in region 9 and 20.3 million in

region uh 10 that gives you a total of

$422 million to be spent on training

programs um the other money will that is

will be administrative cost uh for the

board of industrial

training H

MP honorable member Miss Lawrence Miss

Mr chair may I sit yes you thank

you honorable Minister I'm looking at

the same line item may you turn to page

470 and the very last of the allocation

of this

$679

million it says support to other trade

unions last year you had the same $8

million but you only spent $1.3

million could you kindly tell the house

how many trade unions are to benefit

from

this $8

million

so since I became Minister this

money is um subvention to be given to

trade

unions the issue we have had is is that

except for fog I

remember and um

G the other trade unions um that is

gtu gtu and GPS if I remember uh the

issue was a financial statement to

indicate us how the money going to be

spent and even financial statement after

the money is spent and so because that

has not been happening this money is

returned actually every year not

actually every year to the um to the um

Consolidated

fund as regard the

gncu which is the overarching

supervisory to Corps

and uh they normally receive their

subvention

so I have had conversations with people

who head these unions about

uh we want to dispose the money but we

want to know how um this money is going

to be expended and even after it's

expend even after the expend theyve give

us a financial statement so that the

next year we we give them the money so

that is um

The Honorable member Mr

Mike thank you sir sir um could the

honor I'm going back to program one with

the board of industrial training could

The Honorable

Minister as he would have um told us the

sums of monies allocated to each region

can he tell us the amount to the total

number of programs that are associated

to each region equivalent to the sums of

money that was

listed honorable

Minister okay thank thank you very much

um Mr chair

we're talking

about six

okay the is the thing is that um but I

can lay over this um the programs are

28 in region

one 22 in Region

2 177 program I can go through the

details uh

okay

um so we talking about 37

programs in Region 4 to benefit 555

persons we're talking about nine

programs in Region 3 to benefit 114

persons we're talking about 28 programs

in Region 2 to benefit 365 persons we're

talking about 28 programs in region one

to benefit

390 uh 97 program 97

persons uh region five eight programs to

benefit 95 persons region six 14

programs to

benefit uh 2111 persons region 7 19

programs to benefit 200

persons Region 8 20

programs three programs rather to

benefit 40 persons region 9 20 programs

to benefit 292 persons region 10 11

programs to

benefit uh 30 persons let me just say

that added to what is on this list here

I spoke during the budget debate about a

program that we will do in region 7

uh to train that this is additional to

what we have here train um about 1200

persons to work uh the oku mines in the

first instance when they're uh setting

up the mine and then another thousand

who will be working on the mind

uh 1,200 in the first instance and then

11 total number for the total number

for 177

programs and I'm that is bit based on

the monies we're talking about but I'm

making the point that we have programs

that have started that will be funded by

uh

BNF we have programs

that as I just said 1200 persons to be

trained in region 7 at our training

center we have programs that we will be

supporting the disability Commission

every year we we that happens last year

we supported them they train 36 persons

so additional to what bit will be doing

there's several collaborations that are

happening um with other

agencies uh whether government or

International agency we have a program

also to train 20 women funded by the

World Bank uh in solar PV um technology

that is a two-year program because they

will be trained at a higher level um to

basically become

trainers uh in their own region there's

two women from each um each region in

Guyana so those are additional program

to what bit will be

doing via the 177 programs in um the 10

administrative

region thank you Minister honor member

thank you Mr

G thank you Mr chairman honorable

Minister I believe the programs that

you're

offering is informed by the need for

each specific region am I correct and

therefore is there a thinking in the

ministry that some of the

offerings of of the ministry with

regards to the programs and the training

could be of aist assistance

to the programs for example like the

ministry of Public

Works and I'm saying this because in

region 10 most

recently 500 contractors were given

contracts to Bill

roads but the region the region only has

one Regional

engineer all the roads are being built

simultaneously in most

respects who we have we don't have

sufficient Clerk of Works to oversee all

those works and therefore what the

ministry consider providing a training

program to train people to be Clerk of

Works to help Overlook the works so we

would minimize substandard works in the

roads being done because it's impossible

for one engineer to overlook all of the

500 RADS and we do also don't have

sufficient Clerk of works so I'm

thinking if the programs are being done

to enhance not only the individual but

to ensure that the work being done could

be properly overlooked if such a skill

is offered then we have the create the

the the a skill being learned and

employment opportunities being created

for more people to help Overlook the

work to ensure that value for money is

also be achieved would that be

considered okay so as I understand it

the Min the University of Guyana they

have a program where they do that type

of training and

as um and I'm told the University of

Guyana would um have persons who are

trained they who I think they loan to

and Minister ail can can can U correct

me if I'm saying the wrong loan to the

ministry of um Public Works who

uh help regarding supervision of of um

of of programs of projects right that

are happening here at the level of the

board of industrial training how it is

structured it would not allow at least

at this time for that type of training

uh to be done because bit uh

structure and it's work is Guided by um

legislation about its function what it

must do what it supposed to do um but

one of the other things is that um a lot

of companies are are failing to use the

apprenticeship scheme which can help in

large measure with a lot of these things

that we have

um we have uh to attend to but I I I am

told that there is a program at the

University of Guyana where persons are

trained um or the person uh who can

become clock hours I wouldn't say

there's a program that train people to

become clock I think persons the

persons um and I know a young man who

was going to the University of Guyana

who was a clar works at the ministry of

um housing at the time but bit will not

be able to do this type of training at

this

time H member Miss

thank you Mr chair Mr chair um

6321 which takes us to the back which

deals with on page 470 the labor market

information system

commission Mr chair uh based on an

ongoing conversation I've been having

with the minister every budget uh in

2023 the 1.5 million was not not

utilized in 2024 I'm seeing here that it

1.5 was budgeted but not utilized and

I'm seeing another 1.5 being budgeted

this year um Can the minister say what

exactly is this $1.5 million expected to

do that it has not yet done over the

last four years honor minister

okay

so regarding this specific

matter let me just say go back in time

to come forward

here uh between 2015 and 2020 there was

no labor Ministry it was

disbanded slow down over there slow down

over

there

so

2020 uh because of that

disbandment the the statistical

Department was de

gutted and

therefore regarding this specific matter

what we are doing is trying to build

that department as I speak to you there

is no statistical Department because as

I have said it basically didn't exist we

are now trying to rebuild a statistical

Department we are working with a

consultant to develop a strategy

around this matter

the issue also

is um good

people who you can

employ

um the issue of salaries become a real

issue and so this is a work in

progress um regarding the statistical

Department whilst all the other

departments are functioning effectively

and eff efficiently we're still working

towards

building uh a statistical Department the

$1.5 million is there because we're

hopeful that that department we could

start Staffing that department in

2025 honorable member Miss

H thank you Mr chair thank you honorable

Minister honorable Minister you would

probably recollect that in 2024

um those were the the exact statement

made and I'm so I'm

just that they trying to develop a

statistic department and it was supposed

to be implemented that year um I'm

guessing there's some difficulty in

Staffing um I noted to Mr chair that

the the website the ministry of labor

website there's some form of section

that is now called the lmis which means

that there's some progress being made um

but I'm just wondering if the minister

can State when the statistics would come

up to date because as it is right now

the statistics is our at third quarter

2021 um so when exactly would the

statistics come up to date to show us

not only what is happening up to at

least December 2024 but also give us

some sort of a projection as to what we

can expect moving

forward okay minister

so our expectation is that by the second

quarter of 2025 we would have staff

but as I have said we have not sat in

our hands we have been working uh with a

consultant that is at the

ministry uh developing system you have

just indicated that we have uh

information online the other thing is

that we have been working with Partners

so that we are capturing data in the

construction area uh we collaborated

with and so we have some information as

to labor needs in construction at the

level oil and gas we collaborated with

ILO we have information as regards labor

needs technical labor needs in oil and

gas and the latest study was done by the

business

um the center for business the center

for local business and those are studies

that presently informed the ministry of

labor as to what are the technical lab

labor needs um uh out there and so we're

using all of that data in the short term

until where we have uh

statistic that can do the necessary work

that should be

done thank you Minister honorable member

Miss

har thank you Mr Speaker um Mr chair

it's it's bothering uh it's bothersome

because over the last three years we're

hearing the same thing that there seem

to be an issue with getting the

requisite staff to fill the statistical

Department um would the minister be able

to say what is causing this issue

because we have an unemployment we have

people who are coming out of University

with degrees and so so why is it that

the ministry of labor seem to find it so

difficult to find the the right people

to stop this particular section of the

the um the the lab

Ministry the issue as I've said I

alluded to the fact that while some

people might have an interest the issue

is um they're unprepared to work for the

type of salary so that is one of the

issues we have to the type of salaries

to do and to say as you have said they

have many persons I would say to you

they don't have many persons with the

competence to do this work uh and and

that is is a matter that we we hope to

overcome it um we want the department

was as I have said we have several areas

where data is there that we are

utilizing uh to do the work and to plan

as regards what training to do with that

bit and all of those

issues honorable member Miss

lawrs thank you Mr chair a followup up

for the minister Minister given it's

almost 3 years going into four that you

haven't been able to get this department

up and running for the reasons you have

mentioned then why is it that the

ministry is not thinking about

Outsourcing this particular aspect of

the

surveys because this is not just for the

ministry of labor this is for the

country so that we can be able to use

these statistics both publicly and

privately so could you answer why we're

not Outsourcing if you have that

problem okay

so what I can say to you is that the

consultant that is stationed in the

ministry of labor is not just working

with the ministry of labor the constru

the consultant is collecting data across

the government system so where is Health

where is education those information are

available now as regards

Outsourcing um I don't know um I have

never explored that as to whether uh the

ministry of labor can Outsource that

function what I know is that

presently there are

statistical officers in the ministry

that's the statutory position all the

offic officers so we couldn't just say

okay let we outso this function this

function belongs to these statutory

officers like OS officers labor officers

all the officers in the ministry of

labor in the different technical

departments they are statutory offices

and so it's not as easy as saying okay

let us just Outsource this function

because the function is a statutory

function and so um we will continue to

to persevere because we want the

ministry uh the department to be up and

running we have facilities already for

the Department we have already um

constructed um and expanded at the

Ministry of Labor uh to to allow for

that department when it is up and

running but I go back to the point we

have not been sitting on our hands even

without that department we have been

able to collaborate and work with

partners and we have available data that

are in the public domain all the data

that I'm talking about they're public in

it's public information whether the in

construction that's public information

uh uh oil and gas ILO Public Information

Center for business um development also

there's public um information so we can

have a sense as to the needs out there

in the technical

areas thank you Minister honorable

member Mr

Lawrence thank you Mr chair Mr chair we

heard in this very house about 60,000

persons have been employed we heard

about all of the various Industries

and companies that are here to establish

businesses and so on one of the

objectives of the ministry of labor is

to conduct

research and um

generate the

information that they receive on the

Labor Statistics across the country

could the minister kindly tell us when

um what was the last research done and

where we can find this document I don't

know if we have enough time I can ask

the minister one other question with

that that has because we now thank you

Mr chair Mr chair one of the strategies

of the

ministry is to collaborate with the

Bureau of Statistics for the production

of Labor Market

information could the minister kindly

say whether in 2024 this collaboration

was done and what document we have that

we can go back to to be informed of the

various

areas um that they would have placed in

the labor market information whether

it's a booklet whether it's online

whatever where can we find this

information thank you Mr chair so

apparently M Lawrence wasn't listening

to me at

all and that is the reason why I started

out by making this point

uh

when anyone is doing an assessment on

the ministry of

labor they must must do it recognizing

the historical

matter and that's why I started making a

point you cannot disband the

ministry and don't have it function for

5

years and

then in four years all that it has all

that it has done M Lawrence you want me

to answer your

question do you want me to answer your

question yes

so so you

cannot run a government you disband a

Ministry of Labor have it not function

effectively and efficiently for five

years and then four years you come and

you say all of these things should have

been there you contributed to them not

being there so that's the first point

the second point is I was saying all the

time that we have

several sets of data to

inform uh the ministry of labor as to

what is needed as regards the

collaboration with the ministry with the

um the statistical Buu yes that is uh

happening that continues to happen as

regards um uh the last Labor Market

survey was done um in

2021 uh working in collaboration with

the um the Buu and the fact is the

ministry was reestablished in 2020 all

the things that are needed to be done as

I have said we know there's a need for a

statistical Department I have explained

what we're doing regarding to get to

that point so Mr Lawrence you can't come

and say why do you do this what I would

say this you had your opportunity to do

it

Mr was a minister of Labor I think the

minister did not hear me or he's

misdirecting that honorable member Miss

Lawrence I think I think you're being a

bit disrespectful no I'm

not I determine that the minister is on

the

floor the minister is on the floor and

if you want you raise stand on a point

of order you just don't pick up your

microphone and speak we're not in a fish

market

Mr chair may I you don't have the floor

Minister you have the floor continue

please I'm just advise that um just this

week in the collaboration we having with

the B statistic they have just

requested information from the ministry

of labor and so when the information is

available regarding the collaboration

and the way forward we will make that

information available thank you Minister

honorable members we have exhausted the

time we've actually gone four minutes

over and I now put the

question that the sums stated for

program

381 current 382 current 381 Capital 382

Capital that the sums stay

hearing now stand part of the estimates

those in favor say

I those against saying

no the eyes have it the sum stated now

stands part of the

estimates honorable Minister you and

your staff thank you very much for

taking us through your

agency honorable members let us invite

The Honorable Dr vinia pad minister of

Human Services and Social Security and

her team to take us through agency

39 we give the

minister an

opportunity to be in place

right

honorable honorable members let me

invite you to turn to Pages

188 and

189 and I propose the question that the

sum stated for agency 39 Ministry of

Human Services and Social

Security program 391 current expenditure

stands part of of the estimates The

Honorable member Miss

Natasha sing

Le thank you thank you Comm

chair program 391 policy development and

administration Mr

chairman I noticed that the budget

document says that

five legis pieces of legislation were

drafted in

2024 and two is expected to be done in

2025 I think my mind serves right when I

recall that we have seen two pieces of

legislation um The Family Violence bill

that was debated and passed and the

international measures for the

protection of children the ha convention

that is yet to be debated so in my mind

there are two

um placed before us in

2024 could the minister tell us the

other three drafted and um when would we

expect to see them

here honorable Minister thank you for

your question honorable member there are

several pieces of legislation in draft

we have three pieces of legislation that

are in alignment with the hey convention

that deal with abduction protect ction

and maintenance those are in draft we

also have the ctip regulations we have

the regulations on intercountry adoption

as you know

the the legislation was amended recently

to allow the resumption of intercountry

adoption we have passed the ctip act so

you have to have those regulations the

Family Violence bill was passed it

passed and we're also looking at

regulations for the licensure of social

workers we are also looking at leg

legislation around the poor Relief act

it's a very arcade piece of legislation

and that is currently under

review thank you Minister MP

leis thank you very much Mr chair

Minister thank you for that

response um one of the strategies for

this program is to develop Implement and

disseminate social sec security policies

plans and programs with the relevant

Authority could the number of policies

drafted to address um as reflected in

2024 was six and two is projected for

2025 could the minister list the

policies that were drafted and what the

other two expected for

20125 Minister thank you the pieces of

legislation that would have already been

drafted include the gender-based

violence policy and its accompanying

framework the ecd policy and its

curriculum and also all the accompanying

elements because as you know we are

placing emphasis on early childhood

development so this is a policy we are

very invested in and we have spent a lot

of work working on this policy with the

child care and protection agency the

early childhood and development unit and

i' would like to say thank you to miss

gray Miss gavaya and the entire team and

also we had support from Unicef on this

and this is a policy that will really

strategically Focus the Ministries

attention on ecd and it will guide our

work in two buildings that will be open

this year our day and night Care Centers

and early childhood units in those

centers that is a novel achievement it's

the first time this is going to happen

anywhere in the region so this is a very

good policy the other policy that we're

looking at is the policy on gender there

has been a social inclusion and gender

based policy we've had that looked at we

had had a literature review and that is

in the works to have a more

comprehensive gender policy going

forward we're also looking on the child

care at the reunification reintegration

policy for children

as I had mentioned in the debates this

is important because we are not against

institutionalization but we want to

reduce that so we're looking at how more

children could be reintegrated reunified

we're also looking at the homebased care

policy because one of the things we want

to do is to encourage women to start

their own daycare night care Early

Childhood businesses and also

Enterprises so this is a very important

step in the work that we are going to do

we also worked on a number of other

areas one of the key areas I'd like to

look at this year is the policy on Aging

the policy on care to name a few of

those thank

you MP

sing thank you Mr chair one last

question

um on my indicators

62 outreaches were done in

2024 and 100 is expected in

2025 could The Honorable Minister

confirm if any in the 62 reflected any

Outreach was done in the communities of

barakar um in region 6 and our only

indigenous communities of Orel and

seut minister

if it was

done thank you very much we had over the

number that we had targeted last year we

had many more outreaches actually we

have more outreaches this year and I

myself went into baracara on one of

those outreaches it was an excellent

Outreach and there are number of

programs that are planned for the people

of baracara the meetings were

exceptional they indicated their areas

area of interest and for orala cuta I'll

be going this year but our ministry went

into oral and seuta more than once to

address various social issues and to

work with the people of oralis approach

thank you Mr chair a followup question

go ahead these outreaches are meant for

the minister only or is across um the

ministry

Minister Mr Speaker our ministry has

been out there on the ground with me

without we are on the ground all the

time and this is the process we have a

we have a

consolidation in terms of all the

Departments coming together to address

the various areas that fall under the

umbrella of the ministry there are

ministerial outreaches but I still have

all of the Departments under the

ministry and the intention as I have

started since coming into office is to

take the services to the people in their

communities and that is a process that

has been happening since 2020 that is a

process that has also been the signature

of all of our various Ministries in this

government we have been on the ground

with the people sharing information

working with information so I hope that

answers your question thank you very

much thank you Minister honorable

member thank you Mr

chair Mr chair

6302 training this is a program

we still on 391 policy

development um could the minister tell

us under this line item you have

$900,000 what are the training that

would be done

Minister Mr Speaker we have a number of

areas that we want to work on for the

ministry one of the big projects that

have been in the works with idb in

particular is the

creation of the new digital architecture

of the ministry in this way we intend to

digitize all of the beneficiary

registers digitize how people access our

beneficiary program notably pension

public assistant permanent disability

because one of the things I found when I

went to the ministry is that it was kind

of chaotic we didn't have access to the

back end it was very difficult to

navigate because data was all over the

place so so this project will bring all

the data together will allow the region

to now collect data and have a central

point where that data is integrated so

that we can develop a very very good

database and registry and so to make all

of that work we have to ensure that the

providers of these services are trained

so introduction to the new Mis would be

a very key thing for the ministry to

ensure staff in the Reg staff centrally

everyone is trained in that user

acceptance because you can't put a an

ICT based system or a digital system out

there without ensuring that the public

or the beneficiaries who have to use

this system one of the big things before

I continue is that we would have

introduced online applications for the

first time fully online pension

permanent disabilities people can apply

for these services at home and so user

acceptance test sessions that's another

type of training that will happen and we

do have to have training of trainers

because when we have these kinds of

trainings being introduced we want to

make sure retain that capability and

that capacity in the ministry so we're

training trainers and we're working on a

dashboard so that we are able at all

times to know what's happening in the

ministry and we have to have training of

the users of that dashboard and also

people to operate that dashboard to

input data so that there is a very good

system that at all times give that will

give us an idea of how our systems

whether they're efficient effective so

this is a very major program and one of

the the key things that our government

has been working on is e-governance the

use of ICT whether you speak of ICT in

education or you speak of it in

e-governance so a lot of the training

will be used for ICT persons thank you

Minister honorable members I now put a

question that the sum stated for program

391 agency

39 current expenditure stands part of

the estimates those in favor say

I those against say no eyes have it

program now stands part of the estimates

program 392 same Ministry and I propose

a question that the sum stated here in

current expenditure stands part of the

estimates M Nat sing Lewis honorable

members I now put a question that

Sir Mr Mah honorable member you are

going sorry thank you very much Mr

Speaker this is um program 392 Social

Services uh guide me please page 190

go ahead thank you sir uh old age

pension and social

assistance line item 63

43 can The Honorable Minister uh out of

this sum of

52 uh billion

930

m8570 tell us what is the sum associated

with the procurement of old age pension

book the sum associated with the pension

assistance book and the permanent

disability

book yes you got to get the book

Minister from this

sorry so thank you for that the number

of booklets procured included the cost

of the vouchers for booklet cost and the

cost of procuring a booklet and that

would have been1 19,000 for 6 months

which is

114,000 per per voucher per booklet

389 million for the booklets the

vouchers within the booklets all the

booklets that we procured the cost of

procuring one booklet would amount to

$88 and the cost of procuring booklets

300,000 300 million 344 that's for the

two cents for all the all the booklets

all the booklets so in total for all the

booklets if you add the two would be 389

m882 34 to4 I'm so advised thank you

Minister member mahip thank you very

much Mr chairman Mr chairman a followup

the in terms of the

distribution of old AG pension which

happens through the post office the guy

in post office Corporation some there's

the vouchers when they go they they take

the booklet and they go to the Post

Office and so on and they collect their

pension the reconciliation of monies

there's an issue there at the ministry

of Human Services and the post office

where the post office has a different

figure in terms of the reconciliation

with the ministry uh can you provide us

with a guidance or an update on the

current status with reference to the

issue that exists between balancing the

uh or conducting the reconciliation with

the post office in terms of the

difference with the

figures honor Minister thank you Mr

Speaker I am unaware of what you speak

of maybe you have different information

for me but I'm so advised there is no

issue with reconciliation thank you

Minister honorable member Mr thank you

sir sry I'm I'm thanking the minister

for her answer and I'm quoting from the

auditor General's report for her

guidance in reference to the issue that

says general report

2023 2023 sorry that points out the um

the issue with the post office and it

says according to the summary uh in the

table the sum of

$1.15 two billion was indebted by the

Guyana post office Corporation to the

ministry however an examination of the

conciliation statement received from

gpoc for December

2023 revealed that gpoc was in debted to

the ministry in the sum of

1.016 billion therefore there is a

difference of

136.6 million between the cashbook

summary and the gpoc reconciliation

statement similarly in 2022 there was a

difference of 200 1 mil. 389 million so

they in spite of the fact that that is

dated I asked the Min thank you I have

no problem answering that that is

something that I inherited and it has

been rolling over all the time and it is

something that was not reconciled for a

number of years and it is it is an

ongoing issue that we have so it was

there before I even came to the

ministry thank you Minister H member Mr

M thank you sir indeed minister is

absolutely correct sir uh in fact in in

fact in

2014 in 2014 it was 10 it was

101.6 Million so it continues to what

measure the the minister said there is

no issue that's a rollover thing she

inherited right

so sir thank you very much I'm asking if

there's any progress in reconciling and

and rather than to have the number

building because in 2014 it was 101

million and now we're here at 136

million so the difference keeps widening

what measure is the minister taking to

address Minister first of all is it

widening and secondly if it is widening

as far as I'm hearing you twice there is

not an issue this is an inherited thing

but you could answer thank you thank you

Mr chair have no difficulty because

after 20 14 came 2015 and there were 5

years to reconcile whatever the issue

was and obviously it wasn't done so here

we are and we are dealing with the issue

as it exists right now and we as I

mentioned we have put in and we are

putting in an entire digital

architecture to ensure that there is

accountability there are checks and

balances and every year since 2022 we

have been having audited distribution of

pension books in an effort to deal with

all of the inherited issues thank you so

much thank you Minister MP Natasha sing

leis thank you Mr

chair Mr chair the number of programs

and campaigns targeting the elimination

of sexual violence domestic and gender

based violence in 2024 was

124 and in 2025 it's expected to be 110

can the minister tell us which are the

indigenous communities that will benefit

from the program will benefit from the

program and the campaigns specifically

for the elimination of sexual violence

and what form will the campaigns and

programs

take thank you very much I am very happy

that you asked this question because we

have been having a number of campaigns

since I came into office in fact this

has been an area that has occupied the

ministry's attention as everyone knows

across Guyana we embarked on the

spotlight initiative which concluded in

2023 and out of that initiative a slew

of programs came to being one of those

programs was very specifically targeting

reporting and so 914 was born and 914

awareness which is 24hour toll free

hotline is one of the key mechanisms but

not the only mechanism that is used for

reporting all instances in violence it

was introduced under this government and

it is it is a mechanism that allows

people to report instances of violence

it has the ability in that when cases of

violence are reported and we have seen

many many calls to this hotline it

through we're able to even contact the

Guyana police force to intervene if

there's an acute case of violence and

everyone who calls can have access to

the services so awareness is a very big

part of what we're going to be doing

more awareness in all the hinterland

communities in all the regions every

year we're going into all the regions

across Guyana it is a Consolidated

approach not only dealing with sexual

offenses the domestic violence but also

with through the family enhancement unit

with youth with juveniles juveniles at

risk we're dealing with children through

the child care and protection agency in

addition to 914 we are also expanding

how we use ICT across the country as you

know the hinterland now with the very

good program through the prime

minister's office where they are

connecting

communities and at all the hubs they so

people

can

actually access information access

Services those are very important things

and Mr Mr chair I'm saying all of this

because I want every member of this

house to know what this ministry is

doing and because the question was asked

it is important that everyone knows so

together we can fight the cases of

violence that come up and if we don't

see it as an apolitical thing we will

not be able to do what we need to do

which is to eradicate violence

especially in the 50th year when we are

going up at seall when we're talking

about the elimination of violence

against women we need to make sure we do

this at home so back to ICT it is

looking at the imatter app which is the

first of its kind in the region and this

was an app that was developed it offers

resources to counter violence whether

you're in the hinterland or on the

Coastland and this year we are adding a

WhatsApp feature so that people in

addition to pressing the panic button on

the first page of the IM matter app they

can actually have that WhatsApp kind of

conversation to make reports we can

offer counsel and beyond that we are

also going out into communities to let

them know that there is the Survivor

Advocate Program so Survivor Advocates

could be assigned to persons who are

experiencing violence in all of its

forms and we are going out there because

the Family Violence Act is very new and

we have to ensure that whether persons

are in the hinterland or on the

Coastland they're aware of the measures

in the Family Violence act and if they

are aware of the measures they will

understand the ACT has both a civil and

a criminal component and perpetrator

will face the full force of the law it's

new and it is a very tough piece of

legislation so when we go into the

hinterland and on the Coastland we are

also doing a very novel thing Mr Speaker

and I must thank my colleague Minister

Ben for working along with me we were on

a case as up to yesterday that almost

concluded tonight and we are looking at

how we can train the police officers

state by station by station by station

that is the plan this year and that plan

will start very soon we had initiated

the cop Squad initiative and that

initiative allowed 50% of the police

force to be trained in case management

in responding to cases effectively and

then we started also working with women

families children on how they can access

these services so those services will go

into the hinterland so that people

understand their rights how the law

protects them and what the services are

that we offer we've also launched a boss

initiative Brotherhood of safe spaces

working directly with men so that men

can understand what they need to know

and how we can prevent conflict from

erupting into violence we are also this

year working on Rehabilitation and

directly with perpetrators to through a

program called a brave Circle and that's

what we be going to the hinterland to

the Coastland and Mr Speaker we are also

working with the stakeholders there has

been the development of the referral

pathway coming out of the spotlight

initiative that works with all the

providers all the people who have to

intervene in cases of violence so we

will be going out there in the

hinterland and the Coastland to provide

training for all those persons so the

intention is to keep on going until we

get to every Community that's a process

that has been started that's a process

that is continuing in fact as I speak

today and I must thank my colleague um

Minister manik Chan we have been going

into schools last year we worked in over

30 schools to deal with violence and

bullying today the teams are I must

congratulate and compliment them they've

been out in schools 25 schools and so we

will continue to work so for me it is

not picking out communities for me it is

consistent ongoing work Community by

Community until we get to where we need

to go but again I must reiterate Mr

chair that we need everybody on board

this thank you so much thank you

Minister honorable member Miss

H thank you Mr chair um Mrs chair a

simple question um to the minister uh

what should one expect when they call

the 914

number thank you Mr chair I think you

would have an answer based on what your

question is I mean that'd be the simple

somebody to answer the phone and and

answer to whatever you're asking so

unless the person can say what the

question is

okay so if somebody's calling thank you

Mr chair so if somebody's calling that

there is a a an attack at domestic

violence issue and they pick up the

phone and call 914 what should they

expect from the person who is answering

that

call Minister thank you Mr chair all the

officers who are Manning the

914

hotline please help me

mi mi Mr chair all the 914 officers have

been trained with assistance from the

United Nations population fund and and

you have to ask the particulars of the

incident where is it who is it and what

is happening if it's an active situation

and a person is in Peril like my

colleague just said the police is called

and the police is called in such a way

that we don't call the junior police at

the station we call the commander of the

station this has been a tried and tested

route because we want to make sure that

we hold the commander accountable and so

once the commander is called the police

they're expected to turn up let's say it

is a case where the person needs to be

removed we put that mechanism in place

we don't necessarily need a person to

give their name or any identifying

details we may ask if the person wants

to in case we go to this the location or

the police has to go and we can't find

the location we might at least ask for a

number to get that kind of information

thank you thank you Minister Miss thank

you Mr chair I know Mr chair people seem

to think that it is funny but it's a

very serious question because a lot of

people are dealing with this matter day

in and day out in their homes and in

their

communities and and Mr chair the reason

the reason that I stood to ask ask this

question is because I had to deal with a

scenario of this matter of this manner

and I called 914 and what I got from the

person of the on end was that I have to

find a way to call the police they did

they to they asked me what is the issue

they told me I need to call the police

myself I called brickdam brickdam had no

police to call to send I called I called

the station closest to me they had no

officer they had no vehicle and so for

hours I had to listen to somebody being

beaten because nobody was there to deal

with him I'm I'm not trying to make a

joke it's not a trivial matter and so

what it is I would like to suggest is

that even though you saying these

systems are in place a lot of people

when it is that they call 914 what they

get is you have to call the police

yourself I am not making a joke of it

and I'm not trying to make a joke of it

but it's something that has to be

remedied honorable Minister Mr chair Mr

chair these officers have been trained

and I think it's unfair to say that to

them I myself make random calls to 914

to test the system and I've been doing

that since it started in the first year

and a half when it started the final

call was to me if if if at that time

when we initially started when we

initially started the hotline it was not

going the way it was intended I was the

final call so then I would have to call

the police myself I would have to wake

up my cabinet colleague or the

commissioner police myself that was how

we got to where we are now and I want to

say that we must treat this

seriously and if if we make light of

this you're going Minister please I'm

sorry go

ahead if we make light of this we are

telling people not to have confidence in

something that can help them Mr Speaker

this is exactly what I am very very

disturbed about because when we start to

make these kinds of comments and

assertions this is how people get help

by calling a hotline so Mr Speaker I

think I have no problems with

recommendations and I take the members

recommendations seriously but I am very

very hopeful that it is a genuine one

because if there is an issue I am the

first one to try and reach out and

ensure that issue is resoled but we must

encourage people to use this reporting

mechanism because it has helped a lot of

people thank you Minister The Honorable

member Natasha Singh Lewis thank you Mr

chair Mr chair I want to join the

minister and saying

this is not an issue that we should

politicize but you it's not a statement

do you have a question I have a question

sir yes

please

if a woman calls that is being

abused in that moment M and the 914

person that answerers says call the

police and that was done with no

response from the police what then

should happen thank you very good Mr

chair the woman would not have to call

the police because the 914 operator

would call the

police honorable member Miss

Lawrence thank you Mr chair honorable

Minister may I turn your attention to

Volume 2 page 165 your

indicators and I'm looking at number

five number of elderly residential

facilities meeting minimum operating

standards you had zero in

2024 and you said you were targeting one

in

2025 I'm asking my question here is

whether there were visits to

the these facilities and whether it was

across the country and you had

100% Minister thank you Mr chair I'm

advised that visits were conducted to

all the facilities a report is being

compiled and a lot of the issues revolve

around infrastructure and the intention

is to get all up to the minimum

standards and as you know uh Madame MP

we do have the visiting committees and

so we will continue to have those things

but also in house there is a process of

visiting and assessing all of the homes

with the intention of getting them to

where they need to be that is in

alignment with the minimum standards

thank you

Minister

Thank The Honorable member Mr Henry Mr

chair thank you um Mr Speaker just a

question and perhaps a recommendation

have you in your wonderful roll out PR

say follow up have

you have have you in your lovely

wonderful Ro program been using

indigenous language for communication

purposes if not please I beg that you do

so thank you thank you Mr chair I'm very

glad the member raised it it's something

we've been working on it's not 100%

where we want to be but the ecd program

we have done that the ctip program we

have done that and we've started to do

it somewhat under the domestic violence

program as well it is it is very

difficult to get all of the languages

but we are making every effort to do it

so thank you honor member Miss Lawrence

thank you Mr chair Madame Minister I

turn your attention to number 10 of your

indicator on the same 16 to5 and it

indicates here that there will be an

increase

in terms of persons in these Indigent

residential

facilities if I look at

page 470 and

471 you have at least four four of these

homes listed here

and the subsidies are the back and they

all are receiving the same amount of

monies a 100,000 to three of them and

the darh Shala receiving $2 million my

question to you is given the High Cost

of Living and the inability of many of

these persons to pay the requisite fees

to upkeep these facilities and to ensure

that they have a balanced meal Etc

whether the ministry is doing anything

outside of these allocations to assist

these homes because there was a call

last December by the management of Dar

charow for assistance and I know Archer

Holmes and Bri Holm and so the same

thing Minister yes thank you Mr chair

the $2 million given to the darh Shala

was a direct commitment from his

Excellency the president and so that is

why that one is there like that we've

also been trying to assist we assisted

Uncle Eddie's home when they had some

infrastructural issues and we try from

time to time to assist as best as we can

but it is something that we are looking

at and when we look at Aging in general

and the care economy it is something and

the care system more so it is something

that we will definitely consider and we

have been looking at thank you thank you

Minister honorable member Miss sing

Lewis thank you Mr chair Mr chair the

number of reported cases for domestic

violence in

2024 is

1,863 could The Honorable Minister tell

us how many of those cases were

prosecuted

Minister Mr chair I will not be able to

give all of that information I would

happily lay that over or present that

later but I will say this prosecution

is dependent and has been dependent on

the person who experiencing who

experiences violence wanting to do that

what we have instituted through the

ministry in addition to the heavily

subsidized or the the subvention we have

been giving to NOS like legal aid we

have started the legal prono initiative

it is 3 years old we actually have a

unit now at the ministry that allows

partnership and this is an we signed

with the Guyana Bar Association to

provide legal advice and support to any

person experiencing violence and we have

been able to do that for thousands of

women and so the intention with the

Family Violence act education and all

that we're doing is to encourage more

persons to go all the way to prosecution

in fact the Hope Justice centers that

would have been a collaboration between

the ministries of Human Services and

legal Affairs it's a very robust

collaboration in those hope and Justice

centers one in Region 3 one in Region 4

we have attorneys plac there at all

times to ensure that persons have access

to legal recourse and so this is the

kind of thing that we have to keep

strengthening so that we increase the

rate of

prosecution thank you

Minister honorable member thank you Mr

chair Mr chair there are a number of

reported cases for trafficking in

persons um I think it's stated as

34 how many of these cases were

prosecuted in

2024

[Laughter]

Minister Mr Speaker I know that the

numbers of cases that would have being

prosecuted are increasing in fact that's

one of the ways we would have kept our

tier one ranking it started with three

about two years ago and it's been

increasing not as fast as I would like

to see it increase but it is growing and

also the whole process of restitution is

one that has been increasing as

well Our

member thank you Mr chair Mr chair

6292 I would like if the min can tell us

which of the agency in on the social

services will benefit and if it's more

than one if she can

disaggregate

Minister thank you yes I can tell you

the homes that will benefit are the

Palms the mahika hospital the night

shelter the Hugo Chavez rehab and

reintegration Center our DV shelters you

will appreciate why I will not say where

they are for all the obvious reasons our

tip shelters and the same thing I will

tell you but I will say to you I can

give you the cost for what I wouldn't

say where they are I can tell you the

Palms will get

57,200 the mahika hospital will get

7,387

600 and then you will have night shelter

getting 4 to

1,756 th000 and the night shelter will

for the first time have its own kitchen

to prepare meals for those residents who

are there and the Hugo Chavez rehab

center will get

36,500 th000 our shelters will all get

$1.8 plus

million and the tip shelters will range

between 2.9 to 1.4 million plus doll

each thank you Minister a follow

question chair um could the minister I

understand that you can't say where but

can you tell us how many um shelters for

um domestic violence and how many

shelters do you have for trafficking in

persons and which regions they're in

minister so I can tell you how many but

I can't tell you anything else for again

all the obvious reasons and so we have

four DV shelters three tip shelters and

that has been an increase from what I

came in and met we have done new

shelters as well and we have rehabed the

other

shelters thank you Minister Mr chair

member um

6311 rates and taxes um honorable

Minister I actually have a a complaint

so I need to ask you a question under

that rates and taxes as made to

understand that the social services

office in New Amsterdam

they have not paid their rates and taxes

from since

2020 and so I am asking if there is any

provision under this some to pay that

[Music]

Minister the chair the building is

shared

and the building I will just say that

the building is shared and we should be

moving to a new building in New

Amsterdam m sing Mr chair thank

you

I sing member I can hardly hear myself

Mr Speaker sir

6302 how many departments on the social

services will benefit and how much is

allocated to each agency this is

training I

believe thank you all the Departments

will benefit and there are 11 such

departments and

there are number of key areas we want to

spend on training notably Management

training and Leadership training for all

the heads of departments fire and safety

training at all the shelters we would

also like to work on increasing

capability and capacity among our key

personnel notably probation family and

Welfare Services orientation and

training of new officers focused group

sessions for young people people basic

and Advanced Counseling basics of Crisis

management coaching and supervisory

management therapeutic approaches in

dealing with trauma Youth and Family

Violence aggressive replacement therapy

stem bles mental health and suicide

awareness positive Youth Development and

Trauma and informed care in fact one of

the things we are planning to do

especially for our staff members across

the ministry

is to utilize the corer platform which

has been utilized by the ministry of

Human Services since 2021 to ensure that

they have access to core developmental

courses as part of our overall capacity

building for all the staff of the

ministry of Human Services we are also

focused on training our lbgs through the

Social Security unit at gyana Women's

Leadership Institute we are doing a ser

series of programs and the the thing

about it we are training persons

in3 courses and that is key Mr Speaker

we are adding a number of courses that

are diverse and one of the things I want

to say is that we don't only offer

training for the win program we offer

training for the Empower program which

is focused on men so they have the same

access to the programs that the women

have so it's both in person and online

training that all these persons will

benefit from The Palms geriatric

facility will have special training in

body mechanics refresher courses and one

of the key things which we do have to

report on is the area of gender

mainstreaming so there are series of

courses that would happen gender and

development training and capacity

building for a regional and local

leaders community-based groups training

the inter Ministry committee training

for the gender focal points training for

senior public officers media operators

policy makers in contemporary gender

relations in Guyana sensitization

session I was asked with members of the

Guyana police force and the community

policing group of Guyana gender

responsive budgeting we've started

already to do some training in that

women in leadership and governance staff

development shared roles training

grassroot men's Forum training and

awareness sessions will continue for

Barbers DJs taxi drivers bartenders

Sports personalities and if we turn our

attention to the Hugo Chavis Center for

rehab and reintegration we are offering

training that will benefit the staff so

that they can deal with things like

substance abuse Anger Management Mental

Health Awareness self-esteem and

empowerment workshops we're also working

significantly with persons who are

living with disabilities as you know the

learning lab was opened by this

government the first one in the country

and that's focuses on allround training

for persons living with disabilities so

we are offering training opportunities

to the persons who give the training as

well as the persons who are receiving

the training training in adult literacy

and numeracy basic computer skills

garment construction social media

marketing Jaws for the visually impaired

video and audio editing sign language

for public servants and many more over

15 courses we are offering for the night

shelter there are lots of persons there

who would have experienced addiction and

because of the tremendous work that is

happening at the night shelter we're

also focusing on ensuring not only the

persons who give the training at the

night shelter or the persons who are

responsible for the night shelter have

but also that those persons who are

resident at the night shelter can

benefit from training offered by the

government of Guyana through bwin and

all the programs so programs include

substance abuse HIV and AIDS empowerment

conflict resolution recordkeeping fire

drill keeping Law and Order workshop and

then we mve to human trafficking and

Prevention Services so we doing anti-tip

training for CID officers police

inspectors surgeons traffic ranks pretty

much the police force Foreign Affairs

officer nap Secretariat local government

authorities Food and Drug inspectors

private sector nurses teachers

magistrates medical practitioners Miners

and loggers

media Personnel Civil Society

prosecutors forestry officers transport

officers labor occupational health and

safety

officers gdf officers geology and Minds

commission officers custom and Law

Enforcement Officers translators

remigrants fire officers getting the

gist and the last okay I'm glad and the

the last category is the sexual offense

es and domestic violence unit and this

will involve a number of training

programs including that for social

workers Community workers TOA Village

counselors parents Teachers

Association survivors Advocates and the

list goes on and

on H member sing L thank you Mr chair

I want to believe that you're training

the whole of G

that's but

Minister we've read the

2023 a the general report and I want to

ask a specific question does the

ministry have a monitoring and

evaluation unit that will be able to

monitor this so that we can have value

for

money Minister Mr chair I inherited a

Ministry that didn't have anything to

monitor anything so one of the first

things I decided to do Under the idb

project is to set up a monitoring and

evaluation unit and a Research Unit and

so that will materialize this year as

the as the idb project comes to a

conclusion on various aspects I think it

is important to have internal monitoring

and evaluation and that is why there has

been that direction that we have taken

to ensure that an m& unit is set up at

the

ministry thank you

Minister honorable members I now put the

question that the sum stated for program

392 Social Services current expenditure

stands part of the estimates those in

favor say

I those against say no eyes habit the

sum stated now stands part of the

estimates on R members Pages 192 and 19

3 and I propose a question that the sum

stated for program

393 current expend stands part of the

estimates The Honorable member Natasha

sing

Le thank you Mr

chair Mr chair I just have one question

perhaps a followup after um the number

of cases of child abuse um reported in

2024 is 4,032

and the target for 2025 is

4,000 could the minister tell us what

are the systems in

place to

help to eradicate child abuse in Guyana

our

Minister thank you Mr chair child abuse

has been something that has existed for

many years and there would have been

thousands of cases of child abuse that

would have existed prior to this and why

we have deliberately put less no one can

predict cases of child abuse I would

like to think one day in our country we

will wake up and there will be no cases

of child abuse but it exists and so the

systems are in place for it first of all

there is a hotline the child care and

protection agency has its own hotline

and there is also the 914 hotline to

report cases then we are developing in a

rapid response team from the child care

and protection agency so that when

reports come in that they can be that

kind of response where children can be

as they should be in accordance with the

legislation at the Forefront of our

effort so that their Safety and Security

are Paramount and so that rapid response

theme will also lead into what is

necessary in many cases that exists when

you have child abuse and so that leads

us to the forensic interviewing of a

child that is an essential part of

dealing and responding to matters of

child abuse and so we have in increased

the number of child advocacy centers

this is a partnership with Child Link

and Blossom and this partnership is

heavily subsidized by the government

with over $140 million at least between

the two agencies so in addition to what

what happens there with the forensic

interviews we are also Opening Our Own

forensic interview unit and that will be

based in Region 3 it's a first time for

our country and so this is part of the

idb project as well and so we are

working on training our own staff to

develop them to be able to do the

forensic interview we have sent a first

batch off to India to have an

introduction to it we'll be following up

on that but a part of what we do also

involves the aftermath of trauma so we

have to deal with post-t truma

counseling and so there will be more

efforts to develop that because in

addition to what is done with the

collaboration more needs to be done

because you cannot only do one or two

sessions you have to do a series of

sessions to get that child anywhere that

they need to be and it needs to be

continuous so much effort will be P

placed on that and also so awareness is

key so like I said about gender-based

violence domestic violence Family

Violence it is important that everyone

joins the effort to promote the hot

lines the reporting structure so that

people are aware down to children are

aware that they can report matters of

child child abuse and if we look at how

they can aside from the hotlines they

should be able to tell a responsible

adult and we are going to to be working

as we are working in the schools

currently as I mentioned to educate

children on how they can report how they

can get support and how they can

actually gain help from us we have our

children's homes we have a children's

visiting committee that will also work

with the homes outside the state care

homes that has been happening we are

working to ensure that these homes are

in line with the minimum standards so

that is also another way in which we are

dealing with it so Mr chair the the

strategy is a multi-prong approach we

have the multimedia awareness effort

that not only allows us to focus on

using the medium of radio television

social media and all of those things but

we also go into communities directly and

we work with the children their parents

there's the every child safe program

which is is an overarching program of

the child care and protection agency so

we're working with children and parents

so we have a parenting program which is

a significant component of the every

child safe program because you can't

only focus on the children you have to

focus on the parents and the caregivers

so there is a manual that has been

developed a workbook that has been

developed and the training for now will

be done in person because I believe that

personal connect is important to really

eradicate it we also have the family

enhancement services section that will

work with children a little older than

the child care and protection agency to

curb the issue of child abuse thank you

Minister honorable members our time has

been exhausted for this agency and I

would now put the remaining

programs I now put the question

that the sum stated for program 393

current 391 Capital 392 Capital 393

Capital that these

sums now stands stand part of the

estimates those in favor say

I those against say no eyes have it

these sums now stand part of the

estimates thank you very much honorable

Minister and your staff for taking us

through your

agency let us invite The Honorable

Minister of Housing and water Colin Crow

The Honorable member to

take their

place and I invite you to turn to Pages

226 and 227

honorable members I now propose POS the

question that is some stated for agency

45 Ministry of Housing and water program

451 current

expenditure stands part of the

estimates honor

member Miss an Ferguson yeah come in

your

turn thank you very very much

Mr

chair may I

say good

night to all in the house good

evening yes

something Mrs Mr

chair can I turn our attention to line

item 6223

office

materials and

supplies Mr Mr chair through you to The

Honorable member I've

not an

increase from

2024 to from

26 million 2.6 million to

3.3

million can The Honorable member say

what has occasioned the

increase and who are likely to benefit

from this um this allocation thank

you honorable

Minister uh thank you Mr chairman Mr Mr

chairman what the honorable member

didn't state is that the original Budget

on 2024 was actually 3.3

nevertheless what it's used

for raincoats wind

Breakers Long boots safety boots life

jackets torch lights

umbrellas oh you want so let me let me

let me let me retract six I go back 6223

sorry let's go ink caners

papers file

folders stamp pad inks rulers staple

machines permanent markers paper clips

push pins and I could provide a

breakdown the

users would be all the persons who fall

under program one and if you look at the

Staffing details and that will also

include the two ministers permanent

secretary the Secretariat and the staff

on the program one thank you

Minister member

Ferguson thank you very much

Mr

chair Mr chair if we to look

at page 198 in volume two of the

estimates and I notice on the indic

ators

indicator

um one number of sector sector

policies being

implemented and positively monitored or

effectively monitored I note Mr Speaker

Mr chair sorry in

2024 we had one and I note for in

2025 they Ministry is now catering for

um two so can The

Honorable member explain the reason for

the increase or the additional honorable

Minister thank you Mr chairman Mr

chairman correctly two that's correct

two one is to complete the housing

policy and that is we are the stage now

of the terms of reference for the

consultancy and the second is relation

to the water sector and so that is for

the policy and we're currently

finalizing

that member Ferguson thank you very much

Mr Minister Mr chair through you to The

Honorable member if we look at the at

indicator four no indicator three number

of Staff

trained in key technical areas I note

for 2024 four you would have trained um

20 persons and in 20 25 you have

estimated here to train some 15 persons

we would recall that Junior budget

speech and um even at press conferences

you boasting about the number of houses

and number of roads and to be built and

all kind of thing so can you explain

with such a vast work program why train

only 15 and not more than what you

trained last last last last year thank

you honorable Minister Mr chairman I'm

very proud that I have a very good uh

close follower and a keen fan and that's

very good um honorable

member the agencies for their training

they take care in terms of their

expenses and and their training that is

conducted for their staff and that's

recorded there this caters for the

ministry of housing Central

staff thank you very much thank you very

much Mr Minister but I'm looking at

policy policy development and

administration so this will come under

the ministry of of of housing I'm am I

not correct sir so I'm asking you last

year you you you you trained 20

technical staff this year you intend to

train 15 technical staff can you say

exactly where in the ministry of housing

these technical staff are located and

also why only train um 15 and not more

based on your work program for

2025 there are there are first of all

three main

Secretariat for the ministry of Housing

and water that is for the two ministers

and you have the permanent secretary who

has a administrative and accountability

responsibility and therefore he would to

have a number of Staff under his purview

and those are within those brackets this

15

sta member Ferguson thank you very much

Mr chair thank you very much to the

minister so can you

list the the the the the

positions where these technical staff

are assigned in that will that are

expected to be trained in

2025 can you can you refer to lited

because it'll be Mr chairman through you

when we go to the respective programs

that we we deal with Staffing it would

be better to um highlight the relevant

staff remember L night Minister if you

choose to sit just pull the microphone

closer to you

good

Mr

Speaker chairman sorry for clarification

I'm referring to what is contained in

volume two of the estimate the page

198 outlining the overall

policy the indicator so my my question

still remain yeah

sure Mr chairman before I answer

I'm here we are we have billions of

dollars before us

that the nation would love to know how

it's being spent and I would love to

bring up

and deliver to the nation the programs

that we are advocating for 2025 than to

be bogged down in terms of training

program for a few staff but let's

go we have for example um Mr chairman

you have uh training in procurement risk

management supervisory

management uh uhr management customer

service computer studies these are the

the training areas that we catering

for thank you very much Mr Minister Mr

chair I have no further

question for this um program so we can

move to the next program thank you

honorable members I now put a question

that the sum stated

for agency 45 program 4 51 context manag

stands part of the estimates those in

favor say

I those against say no eyes have it the

sum stated now stands part of the

estimates please turn to Pages 228 and

229 and I propose the question that the

sum stated for program 452 current

expenditure stands part of the estimates

The Honorable member Miss

Fus thank you very much Mr chair Mr

chair

volume two of the estimate and I'm

looking at

page

199 Housing Development and my questions

will be

premised on the indicators a few of the

indicators listed here Mr chair to The

Honorable

member

um number 15 of the indicators number of

lots of

allocated in

2024 the ministry has recorded some

10,389 Lots were

distributed on the um in to in total

given a breakdown that 10,184

was done on the coast while

205 were allocated in the hinan but

Mr chairman if you're to go to the I

recall

reading a press statement or yeah press

statement by the ministry quoting as

saying that they would have issued

10,7

91 Lots in

2024 right so in

2024 based on this in based on this um

information regarding the indicators you

have a total of

10,389 so Mr chair perhaps The Honorable

member can say to the

nation what happened to the difference

between the

10,389 and the

10,791 that they boastfully announced to

this

nation Minister thank you Mr chairman Mr

chairman in

2020

allocated was 2,700

59 in total in

2021

6,989 in total in 2022

10,695 in total 2023 9,56 in total 2024

10,797 in

total already in this year in this uh

month of just completed January uh

512 total to date

4,808 Mr chair and these are the lots

that I've just listed Mr chairman are

residential lots Mr chair thank you very

much for for acknowledging me Mr

chair something is definitely wrong

because it is recorded publicly that

10,790 to one Lots were distributed in

the year

2024 now the minister is saying to this

committee that for um 2024

10,797 Lots were distribut I didn't ask

you how many Lots were distributed in

the month of January but based on

indicators Mr Speaker m is quite

alarming honorable Minister let me hear

her out thank you very much Mr Mr Mr

chair Mr chair I respond Mr chairman

Minister just one second Mr chair I am

working with what is contained in budget

2025 Volume 2 of the budget estimate

this is not Ferguson making up numbers

here the number of house Lots allocated

in

2024 10,3

89 in total with a disaggregated sum for

10,184 for

cost and

205 for hinan and if you add

10,184 and 25 it will give you

10,3

389 so I'm simply asking you honorable

um

member I I don't understand where the

difference where what is the correct

figure between

10, those numbers you're quoting from

which pages of which

document volume two minister so so Mr

chairman the big wow factor in a total

of

4,808 this is a big wow factor just

imagine that but the reality is Mr

chairman even if you do reconcil because

you're allocating every day if you're

doing reconcil ation at the end because

there's a period of time you have to

submit data for the budget preparation

and if I am here giving the final figure

of what the year total was then I don't

see what's the big alarm and wow

factor member

Ferguson thank you Mr M M Mr chair I'll

move

on Mr

chair I note for the Target the very um

indicator number 15 number of lots of

allocate to be allocated

10,000 so can The

Honorable member state where exactly

these lots are likely to be allocated in

which

regions H minister so again Mr chairman

at the time of the initial

submission as in keeping with our

Manifesto commitment we have 10,000

remaining but we can do more and we are

going to do more and we will triple this

by three we will do this by 300% so as a

result Mr chairman we have been able to

move beyond the

10,000 and in your engagement with the

region to be able to come up with our

Target that we intended and that is why

the Minister of Finance in his speech

could have announced that we will be

allocating a minimum of 25,000 Lots now

to answer the other part of the question

it will be in all

regions including region one in both

mauma and port kauma in region two

Region Three

region four on the east coast of

demaro region

five region

six region

7 Region

8 region 9 and region 10 so in the

summary all 10 regions thank you

Minister member

Ferguson thank you very much Mr chair Mr

chair on the very line item

Mr

chair

during the course of the day I guess the

entire

nation saw a publication carried by

demarara

waves as it relates to a private

developer who was able to amass 12 is

that contained in this line item yeah

yeah yes sir yes 12.58 acres of land in

letm and five acres of prime land on the

heroes

Highway my question to The Honorable

member since you have

10,000 house lots to issued for

2025 right 10,000 house lots to issue in

2025 can you say from that 10,000 that

ordinary gyes would be able to benefit

from allocation of lands along the hero

Highway honorable

Minister uh thank you Mr

chairman when I look at the new

areas precessing my period and in our

early tenure if you go left and right I

see I see ordinary gyes living along

the left and the right side of the

heroes highway so I'm not sure what is

the what is the

question the areas to be allocated in

Region 4 are going to be on the east

coast of

Demar thank you Minister honorable

member

Ferguson thank you very much Mr chair Mr

chair the very line item and in response

to what the honorable member just stated

the indicator indicator number number

15 number 15 Mr

chair The Honorable member stated

earlier that when one travels along the

hero highway or the Hero's Highway you

seen a lot of buildings houses I don't

know what he is seeing so what I am

seeing so can The Honorable memb say to

this National Assembly from since 2020

to

2024 how many applications on on on file

were applicants able to benefit from

house Lots along the heroes

Highway honorable

Minister Mr chairman before I I must ask

what does The Honorable member mean

along the

highway can I get a Clarity what do you

mean along the highway cuz I don't see

any encumbrance along the highway member

Ferguson thank you very much adj to the

highway one Mr Mr chair let me be

specific from

the first roundabout that is the Eagles

roundabout mhm to

the second

roundabout that is um the jaguar and I'm

speaking about lands on the eastern and

western corridors of the heroes Highway

you have let me be specific you have

Sheriff now putting up a new

international mall you have Sheron you

have other I think um Blue Waters so I'm

asking a question the question Mr Mr

chair

to The Honorable

member with the 10,000 Lots you intend

to give out to um for 2025 where

consideration will be given to those

applicants to acquire or to be allocated

lands along that

Corridor Minister I think you you are

very pcid but you'll get a chance to

answer again and I I just want to repeat

my understanding of the two questions

first the question that you answered was

these allocations are now along East

Coast right and secondly what the member

is asking is if persons could access

lands and you ask the question what you

mean by along the Eastern Highway maybe

we may have to take a drive and see if

there are Residential Properties on both

sides your turn

Minister Mr chairman when I drive the

highway immediate of the both highways I

see reserves on two both sides and when

you move beyond the reserves then I see

activities at different areas so if

you're driving from Mandela I look on

the left I see houses from South and

then you enter Houston on the left I see

develop and then I see the ministry of

Housing and gwi then I see private um

lands that are not owned by the state on

the right hand side similar Beyond The

Reserve so if you move Beyond Eckles

similar so I'm not sure the honorable

member may have to come back with a

graph to say how far is

beyond or how our our

picture M Ferguson

yeah Mr Mr chair I have no further

questions for

M the sum stated for

program 452 Housing Development current

expenditure stands part of the estimates

those in favor say

I those against say no eyes have it the

sum stated now stands part of the

estimates honorable members let us turn

to Pages 230 and 231

and I propose the question that the sum

stated for program

4553 current expenditure stands part of

the estimates member

Ferguson Mr chair I have no further

questions for this members I now put the

question that the sum stated for program

453 current expenditure stands part of

the estimates those in favor say I yeah

those again saying no eyes have it the

sum stated now stands part of the

estimates honorable members please turn

to page

513 and I propose the question that the

sum stated for

program 5 1

451 capital expenditure

stands part of the estimates member

forguson thank you very much Mr chair Mr

chair through you to The Honorable

member furniture and

Equipment project code

250

257000 furniture and equipment I note

the ministry is requesting $4 million

provision of for furniture and Equipment

can The Honorable member provide a

disaggregation of um the items that will

be procured and where these items will

be

assigned thank

you thank you Mr chairman

three executive

chairs one for the PS one each for the

ministers one small

refrigerator the perment secretary

Secretariat three battery backups one

each for the three

secretariats three filing cabinets one

each for the three

secretariats two desktop computers two

for the Perman secretary uh office

Secretariat two

laptops for the two ministers

Secretariat four waiting

chairs and two digital

cameras neutral color

chair honor members I know honorable

member Miss Lawrence thank you m chair

Mr chair I refer

to line item 28

02600 Urban sewage and water we have

a oh this is there I thought he was

sorry honorable members I now put a

question that the sum stated for program

451 cap capital expenditure now stands

part of the estimates those in favor say

I those against say no eyes have it the

sum stated now stands part of the

estimates program

452 capital expenditure and I propose a

question that the sum stated here in

stands part of the estimates The

Honorable member is Ferguson

honorable members I now put honorable

member Mr maip Paul thank you sir sir

project code

19031 100 provision for highways

building infrastructure work and payment

of retention a sum of

101 bli

813 M 640,000 so this uh sum of money

will'll see several roads being

constructed in these community that are

under the ministry of Housing and water

along with other roads Bridges and so on

water distribution as as detailed in uh

199 of the volume

3 what I've noticed is that several of

these roads that are being constructed

they are not constructed to cater for

two vehicles that can pass side by side

and in the community of helling and arm

several residents have complained about