Govt launches ‘Youth in Natural Resources’ programme

The Natural Resources Ministry (MNRE) on Monday kick-started its first ever Youth Mentorship Programme, which emanated from its Corporate Social Responsibility agenda established in 2016.
The three-week initiative is aimed at exposing young Guyanese to the works of the MNRE while engaging them in the operations of the natural resources and extractive industries.
During the programme, the students will benefit from first-hand exposure to the natural resources sector throughout Guyana, while partaking in activities geared at enhancing the environment.

Present at the opening ceremony was the corporate Liaison Officer of the Natural Resources Ministry, Lourianne Pluck, who was integral in the planning and execution of the mentorship programme. While addressing the incoming participants, Pluck explained the objectives of this pilot project. She expressed, “What we are trying to accomplish is to engage youths, to have you experience and have the exposure of what it is that takes place in the Ministry of Natural Resources, in the sector with our partners.”
Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman received the participants on Monday and welcomed them to this pioneering journey. He took the opportunity to pinpoint the contributions of the extractive industry, and urged the students to take full advantage of this opportunity.
“The Youth in Natural Resources Programme is to let you see that there is virtue in the extractive industries. We want you to see that the two (the industry and their practices) are not working against each other,” Trotman relayed while stating that the operations not only allow for the generation of income, but attract foreign exchange while creating learning opportunity for those who work within the sector.
Moreover Trotman, in his address to the students, outlined the works of this Ministry, indicating that its operation is often viewed in a negative light.
He noted that this programme would help to highlight the efforts taken by the mining and extractive industries to protect and preserve the environment.
The minister conveyed, “People tend to look at us and the work that we do in a negative light: You dig up the ground, you pollute the rivers, you pollute the air sometimes. But what we are working to do here is to bring a healthy balance between the extractive industries and the environment.”
He extended best wishes to the participants as they embark on this impacting journey, and encouraged them to fall in love with their country the way he was able to do as a result of his travels to the various regions.
The Youth Mentorship Programme is the brainchild of Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman, and will see participation of 16 students between the ages of 15 and 18.
This first phase of the mentorship and engagement opportunity is expected to come to an end on August 28, and will pave the way for similar programmes to follow, eventually establishing the initiative as an annual undertaking.