Some 14,500 temporary staff have been hired by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM to assist with Local Government Elections (LGE), contributing to a budgetary increase of $1 billion for that entity this year, compared to $4 billion set aside last year.
This was revealed during the examination of the budget estimates for GECOM on Monday.
In responding to questions from the Opposition, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance Gail Teixeira explained that last year, GECOM had $4 billion.
“However, the money was returned, because there was no Local Government elections. So it is expected that the $5 Billion this time will be able to cover the local government elections,” Teixeira explained.
Constitutional agencies have been allocated a lump sum of $13.8 billion from budget 2023, an over 17 per cent increase compared to last year.
Leading the way in allocations was GECOM, which was allocated $5 billion in net current funds and $150 million in capital funds, a total of $5.1 billion.
