The Ministry of Labour on Friday commissioned a Labour Office at Anna Regina, Pomeroon-Supenaam.
It was just over two weeks ago that the Minister of Labour, Joseph Hamilton announced that the ministry would be expanding to serve the whole of Guyana.
The new office, the first of its kind in the region, will house the Labour Ministry, the Occupational Safety and Health Department, Central Recruitment and Manpower Agency (CRMA), the Co-operative Societies Department and a Board of Industrial Training facility. The hope is that these offices make it easier to conduct relevant government business.
As it relates to the co-ops societies department there, Hamilton noted that the Ministry will be using the facility to establish co-ops within the region as well as revitalise pre-existing ones. He cautioned that persons found mismanaging co-ops and who are observed to be lacking in transparency will be dealt with accordingly. He stressed that if these co-ops refuse to cooperate, the Chief Cooperatives Department Officer, Debbie Persaud, will utilise the law to deal with the matter. Hamilton also mentioned that he has a zero tolerance policy for the mistreatment of co-ops in his ministry.
On June 11, when the ministry held a brief ceremony to observe the International Child Labour Day, Hamilton had informed that the ministry would be expanding and opening offices at hinterland regions and regions where offices are. He had explained that the ministry had been targeting Georgetown but that upon his visit to Pomeroon he had observed that there was much need for the Labour Ministry in the area and region. He had mentioned that during his visit he noticed that there were children who were working and he highlighted that their safety was not being considered. Hamilton warned that child-labour offenders will be facing two charges if the ministry finds that the work environment was hazardous or endangered the child/children.
He also said that the Labour Ministry was not able to cover all the regions because the nine labour officers were based in the capital city. He had said that the ministry would be commissioning new offices in the regions where the offices are needed. According to Hamilton, the ministry will increase the number of officers from nine to 30 and place at least two in every region.
