The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has clarified that the sum allocated to host the upcoming Local Government Election (LGE) is actually $1.2B, and not $2.9B which was previously communicated to the media.
The Commission advised that the entire budget for 2018 is $ 2.9B, of which the sum for the holding of Local Government Elections is included. GECOM noted that $160M was allocated for capital works and items and $1.6B for the normal operations of the Commission.
As such, the remaining sum of $1.2 billion was allotted for the conduct of Local Government Elections in November 2018. In 2016, $1.5B was expended for Local Government Elections. This means that the amount currently allocated is believed to be insufficient and GECOM will be engaging the Ministry of Finance to discuss supplemental provisions.
Now that the date for Local Government Elections has been announced as November 12, 2018, GECOM will be moving ahead with the full implementation of all the required activities in keeping with the statutory timelines as enshrined in the Laws of Guyana.
