Gov’t budgets $2.9B for 2020 poll preparations

Some $5.4 billion will be allocated to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) for 2019, of which $2.9 billion will be for the preparation of the 2020 General and Regional Elections, Finance Minister Winston Jordan announced on Monday.

Jordan also disclosed that $1 billion will be allocated as fiscal transfers to support local democratic organs (LDOs) and $320 million is to be spent on mass property valuations over an 18 months period between October 2018 and the first quarter of 2020.

Jordan also said constitutional reform remains a mandate that the coalition government is keen to fulfil and funding has also been budgeted to this end.