14 business owners receive $2.5M cash entitlement under IDB’s Livelihood Restoration Plan
Minister Croal handing over the cash entitlement to one of the beneficiaries
Some 14 small business owners in La Parfaite Harmonie, West Bank Demerara have been compensated under the Adequate Housing and Urban Accessibility Programme’s (AHUAP) Livelihood Restoration Plan.
These persons, who are deemed project-affected persons (PAPs), all operate businesses which have been affected financially as a result of infrastructural works ongoing in their community.
In a simple ceremony held on Friday at the Housing and Water Ministry, the PAPs were presented with cheques that reflected their cash entitlement. Friday’s disbursement stood at approximately $2.5 million.
In the ceremony, Minister within the Housing and Water Ministry, Susan Rodrigues, expressed satisfaction with this component of the AHUAP, and noted its importance in the overall rollout of the programme. She alluded to the fact that all components of this programme cater to the most vulnerable groups, and each component has been meeting the intended target group. The minister added that this component of the programme should never be overshadowed by the infrastructure development that is simultaneously taking place.
Minister Rodrigues handing over the cheque to one of the recipients
Similar sentiments were expressed by Minister Collin Croal, who urged the business owners to make the best of their entitlements and, more importantly, the training which would be offered to them.
He said the 14 persons will be benefitting from training in the areas of Entrepreneurial Awareness, Financial Management and Record Keeping, Small Business Development and Taxation and Business Regularization. The training will be facilitated by the Small Business Bureau and the Guyana Revenue Authority.
“Giving the cheques will indeed help you to further your business. However, the training will aid you in doing so in a more sustainable way, and it will help you in better managing your finances”, Croal expressed.
Ministers Croal and Rodrigues and a section of the beneficiaries
Reference was also made to the $3 billion investment made in the West Bank Demerara area under the programme, which included upgrading of community roads, and drainage.
The Livelihood Restoration Plan falls under Component 1.2: Consolidation of Existing Schemes of the AHUAP.
The aim is to maximize the likelihood of ensuring that any individual economically displaced by the Programme’s activities have their socio-economic conditions re-established or improved, and that the implementation of the LRP itself is undertaken in a transparent, consistent, and equitable manner.
