Georgetown : Minister of Business, Dominic Gaskin is concerned that the Small Business Bureau’s (SBB) registration forms are being misrepresented as applications for grants and loans under the Micro and Small Enterprise Project.
Reports have surfaced that some members of the Regional Democratic Council of Region One (Barima- Waini) are selectively distributing SBB registration forms to their constituents, promising grants, and advising them to blame the Government if these do not materialise.
The Minister is reassuring the public that no person representing any political party is involved in the processing of applications for loans, grants or any other services, and that the processing of these applications is done in a fair and transparent manner.
The Ministry of Business has provided the following information on the MSED:
* The SBB keeps a record of small businesses in Guyana and this involves the use of registration forms to register these businesses.
* Small businesses are required to register with the SBB before they can benefit from any of the programmes or projects being implemented by the agency.
* Registration forms are available to the general public free of cost and can be downloaded from the Ministry of Business’ website:www.minbusiness.gov.gy
* As part of its outreach programme, SBB representatives visit all of the regions of Guyana and hold meetings with, and provide information to members of the public.
* From time to time, the SBB leaves registration forms with the NDCs or RDCs to distribute to small businesses so that they can be registered. These forms are not applications for grants or loans.
*Grants, loans and training for small businesses are available through the Micro and Small Enterprise (MSE) Development and Building Alternative Livelihoods for Vulnerable Groups Project, commonly coined the ‘MSED Project’, which is run by the SBB.
