Dear Editor,
My attention was captured by the Stabroek News (18.03.08) front page headline: “Region lagging on child care – UNICEF Regional Director” and the accompanying page 8 story. Of particular interest was the call for “stocktaking” by Mr. Nils Kastberg who was quoted in the article as saying that the Caribbean Region should “Develop a reputation not just as a region fit for tourism, but also one fit for how it treats its children”.
Mr. Editor, the failure of President Jagdeo to assent to ‘The Employment of Young Persons and Children (Amendment) Bill’ which was passed by the eighth Parliament on April 27, 2006 is an indication of the level of importance which the government of Guyana places on the welfare and safety of our young people. I refer to page 14 item 2.6 of an International Labour Organisation report of June 2005 entitled “A Review of Child Labour Laws of Guyana – a Guide to Legislative Reform” by Clive Pegus.
It says thus: “A fundamental principle of international Law enshrined in Article 26 of the Vienna convention on the Law of Treaties, ratified by the Government of Guyana, is that every treaty in force is binding upon the parties to it and must be performed by them in good faith. Article 27 prevents a party from invoking its internal law as justification for its failure to perform a treaty.” It goes on to say: “Within the jurisprudence of Guyana, unlike Suriname, ratified treaties are not considered to be directly applicable without enabling legislation. Therefore where there is an inconsistency between national law and the provision of an ILO convention, which Guyana has ratified, the Government of Guyana has one year from ratification to enact enabling legislation to ensure compliance with the ILO convention.”
Against the backdrop of Guyana’s ratification of ILO convention No. 138 and No. 182, and the obligations associated therewith, one wonders why assent was withheld. This certainly cannot be in the best interest of our children of Guyana. Convention 138 has to do with ILO member states being required to:
Pursue a national policy designed to ensure the effective abolition of child labour.
Establish by law a minimum age for admission to employment and work within its territory and on means of transport registered within its territory.
Prohibit the employment of young persons under 18 years of age in work or any form of activity likely to jeopardize their safety, health or moral development.
Convention No. 182 targets the worst forms of child labour. It addresses certain unconditional worst forms of child labour which comprise:
Slavery and all practices similar to slavery including forced labour, serfdom and bonded labour, the involvement of children in wars and armed conflict.
Prostitution and pornographic performances and other forms of commercial sexual activity and
Illicit activities such as the production and distribution of illegal drugs. It is interesting to note that Guyana ratified ILO convention No. 138 on 15th April 1998 and Convention No. 182 on 15th January 2001 but has failed to enact the necessary legislation pursuant to ratification.
Essentially, Guyana is non-compliant as far as fulfilling its obligations to the ILO is concerned. In this regard, the government needs to take immediate steps to reverse this situation not just to look good, but to protect our young people from continued exposure to the dangers that they now face. These challenges include the recent unlawful arrest and detention of our children from communities such as Buxton and Lusignan and the psychological scars which these arrests and in some cases torture (as has been alleged in the case of the fourteen year old boy in Buxton) have left indelibly carved in the psyche of our children. Such challenges must be confronted now.
The research findings of the ILO conducted by its Caribbean Office in 2002 tells us that : “25-40% of the children in Charity and its environs were child labourers, in Parika more than 15-20%, Georgetown 30%, Corriverton 15-20%, Bartica 15-25% St. Cuthbert’s Mission 50% and Black Bush Polder 35-75%.” “The majority of child labourers started to work between the ages of 10-14 years. Female child labourers work mainly as vendors, sales girls, domestic servants, baby sitters and in commercial sexual activities” The report tells us that child labourers involved in sexual activity could be found in six of the eight communities studied. These communities are: Corriverton, Bartica, Parika, Georgetown and Linden. It quotes a UNICEF study titled: “Child Prostitution and Child Sexual Exploitation in Guyana” as estimating that just over one out of every ten persons engaged in commercial sexual activities in Guyana was a child.
Clive Pegus wrote at page 18 of Review of Child Labour Laws of Guyana: “… The Government of Guyana indicated that, “There has been no major incidents of child labour.” This is a reflection of the state of denial in which the government of Guyana lives, a state which is also very evident when the subjects of corruption and bad governance come up for discussion.
Sir, there are children in Region 3 who have worked as employees of road and building construction companies which have benefited from huge contracts. Children as young as twelve years of age work for one thousand dollars per day in order to provide for their mothers and younger siblings
Government must ensure that provision is made in contracts prohibiting the hiring of children. Such provision must have harsh penalties and must form part of an ongoing score card of negatives which will at some stage prevent defaulters from securing future contracts.
Our children are quickly becoming proficient at begging and gambling at Parika which is soon to become a town. Some are already hooked on drugs and alcohol and the females among them are engaged in commercial sexual activity at the night spots. They do not beg or prostitute because they want to, but rather because they want to live and know of no other means of eking out an existence.
These children are being denied a fair chance to be the best that they can be. The state of poverty in which their families are imprisoned denies these children access to education, health care, or social assistance. Yet when children such as these emerge into the wider society sporting their negative attributes, we condemn them and call and even make them criminals. Our society continues to fail them in every respect. We allow them to grow with a yearning for a better life without the education or life skills to realize their dreams and when they turn to a life of crime, we kill them. Then Minister Rohee goes to Parliament and reads out their names and ethnic origins. Does that make us any better than them? I agree with sister Bonita Harris when she said in her letter (SN January 30, 2007) “Especially my view that behind every problem child there are at least two adults with serious deficiencies” To that I would add “and an unconscionable, uncaring and unresponsive government.”
I say that against the background that the ILO Review I alluded to earlier says at page 31: “The author found no evidence of prosecution either under the Employment of Young Persons and Children Act or The Education Act for the illegal employment of children”
Yours faithfully,
Mervyn Williams, MP.
Region Three
Essequibo Islands / West Demerara.
Editor’s note
The President did not assent to several laws passed unanimously in Parliament and gave no explanation for his refusal to assent to the Speaker which is a mandatory constitutional requirement.
