ALBA financiará programa nacional de empleo con 40 millones de dólares

Dominica to receive $40M grant from ALBA

Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit has announced that ALBA (Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas) will be giving about EC$40 million to government, some of which will be used to finance a national employment programme due to begin in December and an initiative aimed at eliminating pit latrines in Dominica.

The Prime Minister said on state-owned DBS on Tuesday, that ALBA has promised US 15 million dollars in grant funds to the country and that eight million dollars have been wired to government’s account “as the first tranche of this commitment.”

“That amount will be used for various activities including part financing of the employment programme which government will launch on the 2nd of December and it will involve also, some of our efforts towards the eradication of pit latrines in the country and other community based projects. This is a grant, grant under the ALBA arrangement,” the prime minister stated during a meeting with residents of Vieille Case on Monday.

Minister responsible for employment, Dr. Collin McIntyre, announced the national employment programme recently and said that it will be engaging over 400 Dominicans in direct employment initiatives.

McIntyre said the employment drive, a key component of which is a mentorship programme, empowers people through on the job training, thus giving them an opportunity to create a better life for themselves and their families.

Prime Minister Skerrit stated in his independence message this year that government would be making available a grant of $4 million for the elimination-of-pit latrines initiative which he had announced sometime earlier.

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