Minister of Labour Manzoor Nadir yesterday reaffirmed his position that an amendment to the law should be considered to allow children between the ages of 13 and 15 to work under certain conditions.
His statement came after the Alliance For Change (AFC) launched a sharp attack on his position.
In a release yesterday, Nadir said “I do feel that we should relook at the legislation so that these young persons may be allowed to work under some conditions. For example –
* limiting the hours of work to 3-4 hours
* no work beyond 5 pm
* only light work to be done
* no work with hazardous chemicals or environment.”
Nadir added that he welcomed a public discussion on the matter. “There are pros and cons so let the views be heard. The AFC as usual feels that they [are] the divine’s gift to humanity. They have already painted themselves into a corner, but I thank them for starting the discussion,” Nadir said.
The AFC on Friday described Nadir’s suggestion of changing the legislation to facilitate children from the age of 13 working in some jobs as “unbelievable and disgraceful.”
The party also demanded an explanation from President Bharrat Jagdeo as to whether Nadir’s opinion is one shared by the government.
Signalling its intentions to never support any attempt to change the legislation to lower the age limit for children to commence working, the AFC said that the laws introduced in 1994 setting the minimum age at 15 “were done with good reason; taking into account international conventions, and the scourge of child labour and exploitation that had started to raise its head in Guyana.”
