– says Guyana considering changing legislation
The issue of child labour, affecting many countries, is not as prevalent in Guyana as there are only few cases; and according to Minister of Labour Manzoor Nadir, it is a sensitive issue which is misunderstood in many instances.
The Minister was at the time clarifying issues relating to child labour at a media briefing yesterday when he stated that he is considering revamping the legislation.
“I am seriously considering once again revising the legislation with respect to children and children’s work to allow children, and I would say between 13 and 15 years in Guyana’s case, to do light work for a specific period per week,” Minister Nadir said.
The Minister stated that many jurisdictions allow children between the ages of 12 and 15 years to be employed and paid for limited hours of work per week. These ‘jobs’ have certain conditions as the children are not allowed to work during school hours or engage in lifting heavy objects.
“Guyana, about 10 years ago, looked at ensuring policies, and legislations were in place to ensure that every single child has a good quality education and be in school up to the age of 15. The Education Act speaks of children being in school up to the age of 14 years 6 months; and when we revised the Constitution in the 90s, we put in the Constitution that children should be in school up to the age of 15,” Minister Nadir said.
In 1994, the age was further changed to 15 where anyone found employing persons under the age of 15 would be prosecuted.
“I want to reaffirm that Guyana signed Conventions 182 and 138 of the ILO that deal with the worst forms of child labour,” Minister Nadir said.
The forms of child labour that are considered the worst forms and that are not condoned include all forms of slavery or practices of such as the sale and trafficking of children, death bondage and serfdom, forced or compulsory labour, including forced or compulsory  recruitment of children for use in armed conflict; the procurement or offering of children for prostitution, production of pornography or pornographic performances; the use, procurement or offering of a child for illicit activity, in particular for the production and trafficking of drugs as defined in the relevant international treaties; and work which by its nature, or by the circumstances by which it is carried out, is likely to harm safety and morals of children.
The Minister stated that Government has no intention of hiding social issues affecting the country and its mandate is to address the problems and find immediate solutions. He pointed out that the Child Protection Agency was established to address issues relating to children, and this Agency will be moving into its own building shortly where it is expected to function more efficiently.
He pointed out that there were three reported cases of child labour which the Ministry pursued and that officers will continue to conduct routine inspections to ensure that there are no children in the workforce.
He stated that the Ministry is working to boost the capacity of its staff and will continue its training programmes. There are currently 18 inspectors at the Ministry with four senior officers and the Ministry has placement for six more officers to ensure greater efficiency and monitoring.
Pointing out that issues of child labour have been misunderstood in the past, the Minister noted that in 2007 and 2010, the Ministry had cause to debunk articles in the media quoting reports and saying that child labour in Guyana was a major issue, which was not the case. He pointed out that a survey carried out by EduCare in 2007 found that Guyana has a very low level of children engaged in the worst forms of child labour.
He also noted that in January, the eighth report of the US Trade Representative to Congress on the Caribbean Basin Initiative Countries was quoted as saying that there was an increase in child labour in Guyana when the report did not state that.
Instead the report referred to 16 percent of the children in the interior being engaged in work on the farms as porters and other work.(GINA)