By Ariana Gordon

THE MINISTRY Of Social Protection will seek funding to construct a home for male Trafficking in Persons victims 18 years and older, subject Minister Volda Lawrence announced on Wednesday during the third day of debates on 2016 National Budget.“The government will approach international agencies to help provide both technical and financial assistance in our drive to stamp out human trafficking from our society. In the quest, we will, seek funding to build a home for MALE TIP victims 18-years and above. This is part of a menu of measures we will pursue this year to shine the spotlight on human trafficking, which also ensnares many Guyanese males and we can’t afford, as a responsible society, to play the proverbial ostrich,” said Minister Lawrence.
She said too that the Counter Trafficking in Persons (C-TIP) Unit will be restructured this year and transformed into a Department that is furnished with additional staff, private investigators, legal officers, senior and junior case managers and an administrative officer. “We are serious about TIP in Guyana and will spare no effort to put the critical infrastructure in place to ensure the eventual eradication of the man-made threat and in the meantime the severest punishment for all convicted perpetrators – female or male.”
Lawrence said TIP remains a priority for the APNU-AFC Coalition, noting that there are currently four TIP matters before the Courts. Thus far, there has been one conviction in a TIP case where restitution was ordered for the victim. “We must rid our nation of this despicable man-made cancer,” the Minister of Social Protection remarked. The Minister noted that the labour sector absorbs just about 16 per cent of TIP victims. What she described as distressing in Guyana is “the preponderance of women who are TIP perpetrators.”
“The majority of the 31 suspects for last year were women. This is contrary to global statistics. Children comprised more than 30 percent of the 59 victims for last year. In addition, sex is the major driver of human trafficking here. More than 80 percent of TIP victims are forced into ‘carnal economics’, the flesh industry,” said Lawrence.
Meanwhile, the Social Protection Minister announced the renaming of the Women of Worth (WOW) programme to the People of Worth Entrepreneurial Resources Project (POWER programme), stating that while in the past WOW focused solely on women, POWER will assist both males and females. Last year, Lawrence said the Ministry of Social Protection resuscitated the Women of Worth (WOW) Programme with the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI), which provided loans for more than 90 female single parents. “Regrettably, we inherited a bankrupt programme: from the $29.4 million in loans, approximately $22 million were non-performing at the end of December 2014, which represents 77 percent of WoW’s portfolio. It cannot be business as usual and we cannot continue on the same broken, ruined track,” she said.
That aside, Lawrence said her ministry’s objectives have been framed within the parameters of equitable distribution of benefits for all Guyanese from the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of ending poverty (Goal 1); achieving gender equity (Goal 5); and reducing inequality within and among countries; the Ministry’s thrust in 2016 will take Guyanese closer to vision adumbrated by these laudable SDGs. “To help fulfill the vision there has been a 42 percent hike in the Ministry’s budget for 2016, taking us to 13 billion dollars. This will not only help us to improve the services we offer, but also to expand our reach to vulnerable far flung communities. Hence, it will include the purchasing of two ATVs for the Labour Department to better monitor worksites in the hinterland to help stamp out child labour, prevent employers under-paying or withholding workers’ pay, and of course, be a fillip against likely TIP activities.”
Campaign to end child abuse
Lawrence said it is her ministry’s goal this year to up its campaign against child abuse, noting that the launch of such a campaign this year, using the media, will raise the level of awareness of Guyanese to the plight of those affected. “This is in an effort to propel them into action to root out the scourge of child abuse in the society. We want to cut a covenant with all communities in Guyana to be more protective of our children. Through this covenant the public will be educated on the destruction to the health and wellbeing of a child who is a victim of abuse and neglect,” remarked Lawrence. She said too that the campaign is aimed at, “stirring the nation into action,” stressing that “child abuse must be prevented at all cost. The Minister said the 2016 budget as presented by Finance Minister Winston Jordan charters a course to increase the country’s wealth so that all Guyanese can live a good life; “a life where they are able to fight poverty and not be dependent on charitable handouts.” This she added will only become possible when jobs are created and persons are trained to fill the vacant positions. “Beating the pinch of poverty was what influenced the rise in the threshold giving families an additional $60,000 in annual income,” Minister Lawrence stated.
The Elderly
Lawrence described the Palms – the home for the elderly, located on Brickdam as “the eye sore that our senior citizens are house in,” and said that government can ill afford to replace the home, but will be spending some $20M to purchase equipment to improve the “functionality and efficacy of that historic institution.” “While it is not ideal, given the variety of constraints, we have nevertheless addressed critical areas such as staffing at the institution and have done work to improve the aesthetics of the environment. Our broader vision is to establish a national minimum standards for Elderly Care Facilities,” The minister stated.
Additionally, the Ministry is working with specialists from the Georgetown Public Hosptial Corporation to correct the dietary deficiencies of the residents of the Palms. Those specialists will assist in proving meals with specific dietary requirements for residents with identified illnesses.
“The elderly in this country have been, for too long, Mr. Speaker, forgotten. Their previously measly pensions epitomised that neglect,” she said, noting that in just a few short months, government has managed to hike their pensions by $5000. “Each old-age pensioner will now receive $18, 200 and we anticipate a fully automated system at the beginning of 2017 so that they would no longer require booklets to redeem their pensions, but can simply do so by producing their identification (ID) cards. Mr. Speaker, these things may seem inconsequential, but cumulatively, they are necessary to help lift the nation out of the retrogressive and punitive environment in which our people still access basic services.” Lawrence said the 2016 Budget “will go into the annals of history as the most significant budget in the last two decades.”