President Irfaan Ali announced that with immediate effect Community Service Officers (CSOs) will receive a stipend increase of $10,000. This will move the stipend from $30,000 to $40,000. The announcement was made on Sunday, during the Amerindian Cultural Extravaganza 2024, at the National Park, Georgetown.
Ali said the stipend will now align with the wages paid to workers under the government’s part-time jobs scheme, and aims to provide the same monetary sum for both the hinterland and coastal regions
The $10,000 stipend increase will “release tens of millions of dollars again, additional money into the community,” the president said.
The CSO programme falls within the ambit of the Youth Entrepreneurial and Apprenticeship Programme (YEAP). Reportedly the programme employed nearly 2700 Community CSOs and received a $1.2 billion allocation in the 2024 budget.
In addition to the stipend increase, the government announced it has expanded the part-time jobs programme to include toshaos, who now receive an additional allowance of $40,000.
