AMIDST speculation about skills capabilities in Guyana, and the row over the hiring of Chinese nationals to construct the Marriott Hotel in Kingston, President Donald Ramotar recently sought to paint a clear picture by explaining the peculiarities in Guyana’s labour sector.

The issue came to the fore when the Guyanese Head of State was speaking to Caribbean reporters based in Miami at a time when opposition politicians and their allies back home were intensifying their campaign against the Marriott Hotel.
Nit-picking on the importation of Chinese labour is the latest in an orchestrated opposition plot against the hotel that included a parliamentary motion piloted by the Alliance For Change (AFC) to block government’s financial investment in the Marriott.
After the attempt made no impact on the hotel’s construction, the use of Chinese labour became the new issue with a protest at the construction site and a subsequent threat by the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) to take legal action.
The latest twist to the spate of speculation is seen in the Kaieteur News’ February 26 edition, which questions whether the Chinese workers are “convicts.”
President Ramotar told reporters in Miami that the issue has been exaggerated in an ongoing campaign by the opposition to “make a fight”; but on the issue of labour in Guyana, he believes that there is somewhat of an imbalance, with the more lucrative sectors attracting the majority.
“A lot of people have been absorbed in the gold industry. For instance, it is very difficult now on the coast to get a heavy-duty dragline operator. Most of them have gone into the interior,” President Ramotar said.
He said there have been instances where many local employers ask for a concession to import labour for certain kinds of work, and other cases where contractors for major government projects are behind schedule because of the “burden of work.”
“The Black Bush Polder road was one year behind time… (with) the Hope Canal, some sections are behind schedule, not because of the lack of skills, but sometimes because of the lack of labour,” President Ramotar said.
Reference was also made to the sugar industry, where issues with turnout have convinced the government to move in the direction of mechanisation on a grander scale for 2013, amidst challenges with the weather and labour, Agriculture Minister Dr. Leslie Ramsammy had announced recently.