THE Ministry of Labour, hand in hand with the Central Recruitment and Manpower Agency (CRMA), is engaging the various ministries on training programmes available to create job opportunities in Guyana. This was disclosed by Labour Minister, Joseph Hamilton during an interview with this publication on Friday.
The meeting, which will be convened by Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira, can assist in formulating a framework to address issues of employability as it relates to youth, persons with disabilities, retirees, university students, non-violent offenders and vocational education.
“I recently had a meeting with the steering committee that I have established to have this conference on the 27th and 28th. The conference deals with some of the matters of employability, and for us to put together a national programme regarding all the issues that were mentioned,” Hamilton said.
He further noted that collaborations have begun with the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport, as well as the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security to discuss training opportunities for youth and vulnerable persons.

“As I speak to you, we have about 60 young men and women who are doing heavy duty equipment operation programme, who are housed at the centre there, at the moment… We have a joint programme we’re doing with Linden Technical Institute, where we have 32 men and 3 women being trained in heavy duty equipment operation, and we have several other things [in the works],” the minister outlined.
Minister Hamilton also made mention of a joint programme with the Ministry of Education to assist in continuing the functionality of the Mercy Wings Vocational and Day Care Centre in South Sophia. The Centre, which is sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy, has the mission of facilitating the transformation of students who are labelled as ‘drop-outs’ into new kinds of individuals, while cultivating positive self-images and offering moral and spiritual values for socially health-conscious lifestyles.
“It’s a large complex there. So they had asked us for support from the Ministry of Education, and the MoE has sought our technical support to work together to ensure that Mercy Wings continues to function.” The minister noted that the ministry is dedicated to creating employment through collaboration of the public and private sector, as well as key stakeholders such as CRMA and the Board of Industrial Training (BIT).