With close to 40,000 indigenous youths unemployed, Minister of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs Sydney Allicock says the review of the Hinterland Employment and Youth Services (HEYS) project and other developmental activities in hinterland regions is part of the efforts to improve them to help young people and other beneficiaries.
In an interview, Allicock and Minister in the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs Valerie Garrido-Lowe told Stabroek News that the HEYS project, for which the one-year programme for the second cohort is due to end in July, has seen a measure of success and some drop outs. “Close to 4,000 youths are covered under the HEYS programme in 215 villages, but we still have close to 40,000 indigenous youths who are unemployed. We have a far way yet to go,” he said.
HEYS’ main objective, Allicock said, is to break the dependency syndrome that Indigenous Peoples had become accustomed to and to focus on empowering them with skills to create jobs through training and investments.
