Following through on his promise to revisit after granting Indian logging company, Vaitarna Holdings, three months to remedy severe breaches of the Occupational Safety & Health laws, Minister of Labour Joseph Hamilton says he is pleased with the improvements put in place by the company.
The minister informed that two weeks ago, he had visited the operations at Wineperu, Bartica, Region Seven, and observed the measures implemented for safer and healthier work environment.
He said, however, there are still many measures that need to be put in place for workers to be able to dwell in a comfortable working environment.
“I am not fully satisfied because there are still areas in which the company can improve and my officers will be working with them to bring them up to standard,” the Minister said.
He pointed out that many Occupational Safety & Health regulations still need to be implemented and that they will be working with the company to ensure this is done.
Back in April during his visit to the operation, Hamilton disclosed that the company had failed to put in place measures to ensure the safety of workers.
However, he said that on his recent visit, he observed that changes have been made to accommodate COVID-19 guidelines to ensure workers are safe at all times.
“When I visited first there were no advisories or washing of hands area [but] when we went back they had workers wearing mask and facilities to wash hands and social distance markers,” he explained.
Hamilton had related that he was flabbergasted when he heard officials referring to the living quarters of employees as “logies” and families being forced to share a single bedroom.
After the visit earlier this month, he stated improvements were made to the accommodations and families were moved from the tiny bachelor’s quarters and placed into a more suitable space. He said that the company is still executing works to improve living conditions. In addition, the company has cleaned up the environment making it more comfortable to dwell in.
Hamilton also informed that his ministry is currently reviewing the complaints about non-payment of overtime wages and hopes to have those matters sorted out.
Subsequent to the visit, the Labour Minster had lamented the working conditions of the employees and had given the company three months to remedy the labour breaches.
“I have met with the directors and told them they need to do better and improve conditions. These conditions cannot continue to exist,” he stressed, while noting that the directors had no defence for their lackadaisical approach to occupational health and safety.
He had explained that, “employees have been working in the most unsafe conditions at Vaitarna’s concession. We have found no COVID-19 guidelines or measures in place, workers working in as much as four feet of wood shavings and instances of water and electricity marrying.”
On top of all that, Hamilton said he also registered his concern over the fact that there is no medical facility to treat injuries if suffered on the concession.
“For an operation like this it requires a health post. There is no health facility within the concession and the nearest, which is a government operated one, is miles away. That is equipped with a Community Health Worker,” the Minister lamented.
“…We will work with them to establish a health and safety committee,” Hamilton had said, noting that such operations have a greater risk of injury. “We want to avoid those things from happening.”
