Labour and Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Officers are to be trained in foreign languages to ensure proper communication with all segments of the workforce.
Minister of Labour, Joseph Hamilton made this disclosure during an interview with the Department of Public Information (DPI) on his two-day visit to Cuyuni-Mazaruni last week.
Training will be available in Mandarin, Portuguese and Spanish, DPI said. In recent years large numbers of Brazilians, Chinese, Venezuelans and Cubans have joined the labour force
Twenty-four employees at the Ministry are currently learning Portuguese, DPI said. Hamilton said the language training will ensure there is proper supervision.
“In some of the mining districts, you have foreigners there – Brazilians and Venezuelans – and therefore, the officers must be able to communicate with them to ensure labour and OSH laws are not breached”, he said.
The Minister added that the Ministry will work with the University of Guyana which offers free Mandarin classes.
