THE Ministry of Labour (MoL), on Monday signed a contract worth $23.7 million with Perba Trading and Construction, for the rehabilitation of a Learning and Resource Centre for the Board of Industrial Training (BIT) at Unity, Mahaica.
Minister of Labour Joseph Hamilton, at the contracting signing said that this facility will be the first of its kind in Guyana and is expected to be completed by year-end.
The building will be utilized as a training centre to certify and accredit persons who already have a skill.
“The intention of the Ministry of Labour is to use that building to ensure that all the technical people we have, they are certified and accredited,” he said.
Additionally, there will be a welding area attached to the building, where persons will be retrained and certified.
“We have to prepare our people for the world that is before them,” Minister Hamilton related.
Persons such as carpenters, masons, and electricians who don’t have the requisite certification and qualifications would be retrained, certified and accredited, which would open up a variety of opportunities for them, given the ongoing development in Guyana.
Just recently, the MoL signed two contracts valuing approximately $84 million for the construction of two new Board of Industrial Training (BIT) facilities in New Amsterdam and Corriverton, Region Six.
The two centres are expected to be completed in six months and will pave the way for the region to have a skilled workforce.
A total of $139 million was allocated in Budget 2023 to construct and rehabilitate several training centres.
In Region Nine, Minister Hamilton said that they are refurbishing a facility in Lethem where training is to be done, as well as at Annai, North Rupununi.
During consideration of the budget estimates, Minister Hamilton had related that the ministry plans to inject $20 million into the facility to advance development and training for North Rupununi.
Some $10M in rehabilitation works are also ongoing at the Bartica Learning Resource Centre for the training of BIT students.
This initiative aligns with the government’s policy of delivering technical and vocational training programmes, which aim to address the demand for skills in various sectors.
Minister Hamilton said currently, BIT offers many skills-training programmes that are accessible to citizens countrywide.
He said these programmes were mostly centred on the coastland and its environs, and were not available to persons elsewhere.
This, he noted, changed when the PPP/C administration assumed office in August 2020. This move was to ensure that the programmes are more inclusive, and accessible to all citizens.
“BIT is available in every region and sub-region of this country. Every hinterland region, river, every creek, and so the expansion you talk about has already happened…the expansion started in August 2020,” Hamilton added.
In relation to training, he highlighted that some 5,600 persons graduated from BIT programmes in 2022.
He said the government remains committed to providing the necessary support for persons to be employed or to become entrepreneurs.
This year, BIT intends to train almost 8,000 persons countrywide
