HEYS participants receive support to startup businesses
DPI Guyana, April 17, 2018
Hinterland Employment and Youth Service (HEYS) participants of North Rupununi communities including Fly Hill, Quitata, Toka, Wowetta and Aranaputa, Region Nine (Upper Takatu-Upper Essequibo) recently received equipment to begin their individual businesses.
The equipment, which included catering kits, stoves, agriculture tools, sewing machine, and computers and printers, were handed over to the youths by Minister of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs, Sydney Allicock during an outreach in the region.
The Minister, during brief remarks at the presentation ceremony at Aranaputa, told the youths that they have an opportunity to become entrepreneurs and future leaders within their communities, the region, and by extension the country.
It is for this reason, he said that the Government is giving them the necessary boost, through skills training, the HEYS programme, and also supporting them to start-up their individual businesses.
For those involved in catering, Minister Allicock urged that they use their skills to prepare indigenous cuisines, especially so that visitors visiting their communities can have a place where they can enjoy the indigenous culture, through food.
“I am very pleased to be handing over this equipment to you and I want to encourage you to take good care of it because it is only then you will get the desired results, and we will continue to work with you,”Minister Allicock added.
The Hinterland Employment and Youth Service, (HEYS) programme which comes to an end this year, benefitted close to 4000 Hinterland and Indigenous youths with many becoming their own bosses, while some opted to attend a higher institute of learning.
Earlier this year, President David Granger established the Guyana Youth Service (GYS). The body will be responsible for consolidating all of the youth programmes, including HEYS, to offer a standardised education and training curriculum for youths.
While the GYS will fall under the purview of the Social Cohesion Ministry, there will be formal and informal liaisons with Ministries that are currently involved in implementing youth programmes.
The ultimate goal is that at the end of the training offered by the GYS, a graduate must be able to be self-employed or be qualified to find employment in any organisation.
By: Synieka Thorne