A DECISION by the Ministry of Social Protection to decentralise all of its departments in the mining town of Linden, which also benefit residents from communities across Guyana, has been a major boost to the social development of the town. All of the social services are now available at the Mackenzie office. Those services include Child Care and Protection Agency, Probation Services, the Department of Labour, and the Board of Industrial Training, Recruitment and Man Power Agency.

Senior Officer at the Linden Branch of the Ministry of Social Protection, Miss Huette Moore explained that the move was in keeping with the government’s mission to bring its services closer to the people, so as to enable those services to be more effective, and reduce the burden on residents to travel to Georgetown to access them. In addition to efficiency and cost reduction, Moore said that services are being provided at a faster rate, and with more tangible solutions.

Speaking on Child Care and Protection Services, Moore said that the well-being of more children is being attended to; that more residents are breaking the silence against abuse, resulting in more perpetrators being brought to justice. “It is a great importance to be able to have the opportunity to assist people in need. The Child Care Protection Agency we are able to reach more clients as if we were in Georgetown and make their reports and have their matters addressed. “It is cheaper on cost factor for all our clients, as well as it helps to resolve some matters quite faster than going to the courts,” Moore said, adding: “People are speaking out, and want to ensure that children are safe and protected in our communities.”

The Department was able to place a resident officer in the Sub-Region Two District, which caters for Kwakwani and communities along the Upper Berbice River. That move to further decentralise, the senior official said, has also resulted in much benefit in fighting child abuse in those outlying communities.

LABOUR PRESENCE

With the Department of Labour now having a presence in the township, more negligent employers are being investigated, bringing much relief to employees who were either wrongfully dismissed, or subject to some other form of mistreatment. One of the latest cases the Region Ten (Upper Demerara-Berbice) Department of Labour was able to deal with resulted in scores of loggers attached to a Chinese-owned lumber company being reinstated, after they were wrongfully dismissed. The conditions under which they’d worked were investigated and have since been improved.

With the availability of the Recruitment and Manpower Department, hundreds of youths from Region Ten have benefited from training, facilitated by the Board of Industrial Training (BIT), and scores of those youths have since been employed. BIT has completed many courses, which saw youths graduating from technical and vocational courses, such as Early Childhood Development;, Garment Construction; Apiculture, and other agriculture-based courses.

Moore related that the various departments work as a team, and many clients have been referred to the recruitment and manpower department for them to benefit from employment. If a single-parent seeking public assistance for his or her children is being processed by the Probation Department, then that parent is also likely to be referred to the Recruitment Department so he or she can be empowered rather than be wholly dependent on the State.

The social standing of the mining town has significantly improved in recent months, and officers will continue to serve with diligence and zest. “I can safely say that a lot more of the communities’ needs are being met, and with the services there, it is good to know there is somewhere they can go,” Moore said.